BURUNDI: UN to start troop pullout on Wednesday, 16/Dec/05
BUJUMBURA, 16 December (IRIN) - Some 180 soldiers in a Mozambican contingent are set to leave Burundi on Wednesday, marking the start of the withdrawal of the UN Mission there known as ONUB. ... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: Demonstration ends in front of UNHCR headquarters, 16/Dec/05
BUJUMBURA, 16 December (IRIN) - Some 150 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ended a sit-in on Friday in front of the headquarters of the UN refugees agency in Burundi, UNHCR. ... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: UN appeals for US $128m in humanitarian aid for 2006, 15/Dec/05
BUJUMBURA, 15 December (IRIN) - Much of the US $128 million in humanitarian aid to Burundi that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs appealed for on Wednesday will not be for emergency relief. ... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: Nkurunziza optimistic about education, security, 8/Dec/05
BRUSSELS, 8 December (IRIN) - During his four-day visit to Belgium, Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza called on leaders of the European Union to drum up support for peace-building and development in his war-torn country. The following are excerpts from an interview in... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: Germany grants Bujumbura 9.5 million euros to fight poverty, 7/Dec/05
AMSTERDAM, 7 December (IRIN) - Germany has granted Burundi 9.5 million euros (US $11.1 million) for a one-year programme aimed at reducing poverty across the country by providing safe drinking water, fighting HIV/AIDS and promoting peace and reconciliation, a German government... Full Report... Email Report

GREAT LAKES: Returning refugees risk being displaced, 6/Dec/05
NAIROBI, 6 December (IRIN) - Tens of thousands of refugees in the Great Lakes region have started returning home, but without adequate support they could reignite conflicts and end up joining the millions of people displaced within their own countries, a senior UN official said... Full Report... Email Report

GREAT LAKES: EU calls for revival of regional economic bloc, 6/Dec/05
AMSTERDAM, 6 December (IRIN) - The European Union commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, Louis Michel, has called for the revival of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries that ceased to exist in the mid-1990s as a result of war in the region.... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: Returnee children face language obstacles in schools, 2/Dec/05
BUJUMBURA, 2 December (IRIN) - ... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: World Bank pledges additional $170 million for projects, 2/Dec/05
BUJUMBURA, 2 December (IRIN) - In addition to US 350 million it has allocated to Burundi for reconstruction and development, the World Bank has pledged an additional $170 million over the next two years, a bank official said on Thursday.... Full Report... Email Report

GREAT LAKES: Norway to promote peace and development through culture, sports, 2/Dec/05
AMSTERDAM, 2 December (IRIN) - Norway launched a programme on Friday to support culture and sports in developing countries, especially among people in conflict zones such as Africa's Great Lakes region.... Full Report... Email Report

GLOBAL: UN appeals for US $4.7 billion in life-saving aid, 2/Dec/05
NEW YORK, 2 December (IRIN) - The high US$4.7 billion price tag on the United Nations latest global appeal, is because there are currently a large number of humanitarian operations and natural disasters, according to Jan Egeland, the UNs under-secretary-general for humanitarian... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: UN agency moves 500 Congolese refugees away from border, 1/Dec/05
BUJUMBURA, 1 December (IRIN) - Some 500 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo who crossed into northwestern Burundi in November have been moved inland from the border area in Cibitoke Province to Gasorwe transit camp in Muyinga Province in the northeast, an official of... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: Germany resumes aid with 17 million euros for water, sanitation, 30/Nov/05
BUJUMBURA, 30 November (IRIN) - Germany gave the Burundian government nearly 17 million euros on Tuesday to improve water and sanitation in various parts of the country, in what a government official says marks the end of the suspension of German aid.... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: New debt relief from African Development Bank, 28/Nov/05
NAIROBI, 28 November (IRIN) - The African Development Bank Group said on Monday Burundi had met the conditions needed to qualify for US $226.01 million ($149.35 million in Net Present Value terms) in debt relief. ... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: Belgium pledges to increase development aid, 28/Nov/05
BUJUMBURA, 28 November (IRIN) - Belgium's minister for development cooperation, Armand de Decker, arrived in Bujumbura on Sunday and pledged to increase his country's financial aid to its former colony. ... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: Rwandans to be moved closer to own border, 25/Nov/05
BUJUMBURA, 25 November (IRIN) - Some 3,500 Rwandans in northern Burundi who the government has labelled "illegal immigrants" will soon be moved to a temporary camp 30 km from the Rwandan border, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Thursday.... Full Report... Email Report

AFRICA: Belgian minister proposes joint EU-AU peacekeeping training centres, 24/Nov/05
BRUSSELS, 24 November (IRIN) - Belgian Development Cooperation Minister Armand de Decker is seeking support from his counterparts in the European Union for his proposal to create peacekeeping training centres in Africa, in partnership with the African Union, a senior official in... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: Annan recommends downsizing UN mission, 24/Nov/05
NAIROBI, 24 November (IRIN) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended to the UN Security Council the reduction of the size of the UN Operation in Burundi, known as ONUB. ... Full Report... Email Report

GREAT LAKES: DRC poll vital to region's stability - UN delegation, 23/Nov/05
NAIROBI, 23 November (IRIN) - Successful elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) would not only help the country's peace and transition process but would also greatly contribute to the achievement of stability in Africa's Great Lakes region, according to a UN Security... Full Report... Email Report

BURUNDI: UN mission says claims linking it to rebels "unfounded", 21/Nov/05
NAIROBI, 21 November (IRIN) - Allegations linking the UN Operation in Burundi, known as ONUB, to the remaining active rebel group in the country, the Forces nationales de liberation, are "serious and unfounded" and undermine the mission's mandate, ONUB said on Friday.... Full Report... Email Report