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Burundi + 1 more

WFP Burundi Country Brief, March 2018

Attachments

In Numbers

1,034.5 mt of food assistance distributed

US$85,045 cash based transfers made

US$ 11.2 m six months (April-September 2018) net funding requirements

593,191 people assisted in March 2018

Operational Updates

Voluntary repatriation: The Tripartite (Burundi/Tanzania/UNHCR) Commission for the Voluntary Repatriation of Burundian Refugees in Tanzania, which held its 20th meeting in Bujumbura on 28 March, adopted an action plan for the voluntary repatriation of 72,000 Burundian refugees from Tanzania between April and December 2018.

According to the plan, 2,000 refugees will be repatriated each week, starting on 5 April, with the possibility of progressively increasing the number. The priority will be given to the 19,148 refugees already registered for voluntary repatriation. WFP will be supporting the process by providing the returnees with a three-month food package for their reintegration. As of 31 March 2018, a total of 20,768 Burundians had returned home with the support of the humanitarian community since the launch of the operation in September 2017. In March 2018, 4,319 Burundians returned home.

Advocacy for Cankuzo province WFP and FAO are jointly advocating for assistance in the province of Cankuzo, one of the provinces most affected by food and nutrition insecurity due to high food prices, reduced labor markets due to limited trans-border movements in Tanzania and slow recovery of agricultural livelihoods after the 2016 drought. The province is among those receiving the largest number of returnees from Tanzania. The food security situation is expected to deteriorate from May to June. According to 2016-2017 Burundi Health and Demographic Survey-III, chronic malnutrition rates are at 59.4 percent, while acute malnutrition is at 6.3 percent.
Assistance is urgently needed to improve the food security of the population of Cankuzo.

Provision of assistance to IDPs: 2,000 IDPs displaced by torrential rains that hit south Burundi 3 years ago have recently been relocated by the government to Kigwena,
Rumonge province in southern Burundi. In March, WFP provided them with food assistance; a total of 95 mt was distributed representing a three-month ration. WFP will continue to closely monitor their food security situation. In June, a multi sectoral assessment including food security will be conducted in the site, and the results will determine the type of assistance to be provided.