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Grant proposal to the Folke Bernadotte Academy, FBA, in Sweden

 

 

May 12, 2006

Solidifying Peace in Burundi 2006-2007

The 1 + 5 projects

1. This proposal is Part 2 of a comprehensive 3-year program developed by The Transnational Foundation (TFF) in Burundi in close co-operation with its 13 “Amahoro” (Peace) Coalition partners there. The project they have chosen to work together to realize – and which will later integrate several more NGOs – is the establishment of the Amahoro Open Centre in the capital Bujumbura and with future branches in the provinces (more about the Centre below), the first ever of its kind in Burundi. This is the main project.
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/forum/meet/2005/AmahoroCoal_CenterProp.html.

2. Other projects have emerged during our work. TFF has received several requests for assistance by other parties in the country. Thus, the Light University, one of the Coalition members, wants TFF to teach at least one introductory course in peace and conflict studies per year after an overwhelming 130 Hutu, Tutsi and Twa students took such a course in spring 2006.

3. With the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mme Antoinette Batumubwira, we have discussed how best to assist in developing an international media strategy for Burundi with a special emphasis on its peace process. TFF already serves as a self-appointed goodwill ambassador for the peace process.

4. The Speaker of Parliament, Mme Immaculée Nahayo, has asked us to do training in peace, negotiation and reconciliation for members of Parliament.

5. The UN system is interested in training too. Both the Head of the UN mission in Burundi (ONUB), Ambassador Nureldin Satti, and Country Director of UNDP, Antonius Broek have asked TFF to make it possible to train some of their Burundian and international staff in the same fields (a small one-hour session has already been done as an appetizer).

6. The Government of Burundi (GoB) has decided to set up a national centre for peacekeeping, democracy and to remind people of the war but also the path towards peace. In 1999, on the request of then Minister of Education, Mpawenayo, TFF produced a document for the government, “Developing Peace Education Programmes for Burundi” which outlined, among other things, a similar institute. It would be natural now 7 years later, to offer TFF’s competence and advice on the setting up of such a centre, should the Presidency under which it comes be so interested.

7. A film for the Swedish Television about Burundi’s peace process and the Amahoro Coalition and Centre building, an initiative by television journalist Annette Carlsson, TFF board member.

8. The possible projects 2-7 have emerged during the missions of TFF to Burundi facilitated by the Folke Bernadotte Academy grant. It goes without saying that the needs are overwhelming. We would also like to add that the gratitude expressed by Burundians to TFF and Sweden for what has been done so far has been deeply moving, from the ministerial level to members of the Coalition – which is hereby conveyed. Burundi is a place where small means can make a big difference.

 

TFF’s facilitating role 

9. Over the years the roles of TFF have been advisory, coordinating and managing, educative, bridgebuilding and outreach-oriented. We have assisted the Coalition in developing a concrete proposal and budget for this Centre and, together with them, opened doors to the UN Mission in Burundi (ONUB), the UNDP, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Parliament Speaker, and to a series of embassies and aid organizations. And we have conducted one training course and several smaller meetings during which the Amahoro Centre idea has taken shape.

10. Thus, a genuinely Burundian character and stake in all we do in the future in the Amahoro Coalition is secured. The day the Coalition is sufficiently integrated and produces synergy, the day the Amahoro Open Centre is a reality and operates to the benefit of the Burundian people, TFF wants to move on to other projects.

11. Thus, the funding requested below by TFF aims to make it possible for us to support and empower the Peace Coalition members in their hard daily work to solidify peace by establishing this Centre. This happens in support of civil society and “peace from the ground-up” while the Burundian government manages the overall peace process shaped by the Arusha Agreement (2000).

 

General purposes

12. The project(s) aim to make a contribution to the overall peace, reconciliation and future peaceful development in Burundi. Since most activities take place in the capital Bujumbura, it is essential that the project includes a provincial focus and reaches the local population; this is secured by working with 13 NGOs, most of which have countrywide reach, such as the Teachers’ Union and the RPA Radio.
A second purpose is to generate new knowledge on reconciliation, tolerance and forgiveness through action research.
A third aim is to help people, serve as a goodwill mission as well as inspire and train citizens to empower themselves through values such as non-violence, humanity, tolerance, forgiveness and democratic governance.
The project builds on already existing local reconciliation initiatives and resources, and on co-operation with local authorities in Bujumbura. The change agents are the Coalition members – and possibly others, see 2-6 above - with TFF as a modest facilitator.
While in progress, the project - its weak and strong aspects, the problems and the achievements - is described in text and pictures on the foundation’s website, see
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/forum/meet/2005/AmahoroCoal_CenterProp.html. This is also where you find the Project Activity Report 2005-2006:
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/forum/meet/2006/Burundi_Report_2005-2006.html.

 

Burundi and its remarkable peace process

13. Burundi is number 171 out of the 175 countries on UNDP's Human Development Index. The GNP per capita is US $145. There is one doctor per 100,000 citizens and one single psychiatrist in the whole country; 40,000 die annually because of AIDS. The 2005 UN Consolidated Appeal was for US $ 121.4 million but as of December 2005 donors had only funded 59 percent of the amount requested, or $ 71 million. By any standard, this is a very small sum in the international community, about $ 17 US per capita.
Due to this and to adverse climate conditions, hunger is now widespread in the northern provinces; the donor community has reacted very slowly, particularly after the Tsunami catastrophe. If development and security are seen as legitimate human needs and applied as criteria for foreign assistance, Burundi qualifies beyond doubt. Indeed, if not assisted now, there is a risk that the violence may return.

Burundi is moving from a thirty-years old ethnic conflict towards peace. This violent period has taken some 300.000 lives, wounded many and destroyed uncountable souls and human trust. A peace agreement was signed in Arusha-Tanzania in August 2000 between 17 political parties and armed movements. It began to be implemented in November 2001 with the establishment of transitional institutions and the alternation power between Pierre Buyoya and his vice-president Domitien Ndayizeye. Two other cease-fire agreements were signed in August and December 2002. Important progress was achieved in September 2003 with the Pretoria protocol regarding the sharing of political and military power between the government and rebel movements. In April 2005, the last rebel movement, the FNL, agreed to a cease-fire (but it did not hold, negotiation are scheduled for spring-summer 2006 with South Africa as mediator).

14. The peace achievements are truly remarkable, clearly beyond the most hopeful expectation of connoisseurs a few years ago. Ninety per cent of the people went to vote on a new constitution and 90 per cent said ‘yes.’ A comprehensive DDR process has been completed, thousands of fighters – including child soldiers – have been disarmed and a new ethnically mixed army of about one-third of the soldiers. Elections on five levels from the local ‘collines’ to the President have been conducted, orderly and peacefully.  Very many new MPs are new faces, meaning a lot of corrupted politicians have left the stage. 36 per cent of the new ministers are women and the president repeatedly emphasizes the importance of women taking part in all spheres of society. A comprehensive government program has been produced in a few months, it gives priority to security, peace and development and their integration. An anti-corruption program has been installed and expensive government cars are being sold; as an important role model, the president hands back per diems to the treasury when returning from abroad. Free education for all at primary school level has been given priority, as has free maternal health care, even though there is no budget yet for it. The UN mission, ONUB, has been so successful in its peacekeeping role that it is being withdrawn during spring 2006 and the national curfew has been lifted; after years of insecurity, it is again possible to travel to all provinces. Freedom of the press has clearly increased, although there are still some momentary clamp-downs. The establishment of a truth and reconciliation mechanism is expected shortly.

15. Of course, there are still problems and risks. Poverty, violence not the least against women, perhaps a risk that the overwhelming majority of the government party could produce a feeling of being all-powerful and ignoring the de facto very small opposition. There is the land issue – refugees and IDPs returning only to find that their plots and houses have been taken over by others; and this is related to rapidly increasing population figures. There are huge income differentials. There is hunger and misery in about one-third of the provinces. The risk of coup d’etats by dissatisfied, demobilized soldiers should not be underestimated.

16. But above all there is this non-measurable something: a fatigue about anything violent and a will to peace. By means of traditional social healing, the institution of bashingantahe, spontaneous reconciliation takes place in local communities. There is a perfectly free use of terms such as “hutu” and “tutsi” – unthinkable and very risky just a few years ago – and young people in particular have no problems in talking about what happened. There is a new democratically elected government with a determined, visionary leadership. The United Nations mission (ONUB) and others such as UNDP do a truly impressive work in support of peace.     

It is a highly complex, deeply human-existential process with no success guaranteed. But one thing is sure: with various types of support from neutral professional actors abroad, the chances for violence-prevention and peace increase. 

 

The links between security, peace, reconciliation and future development

17. Peace can be defined as the capacity to develop security and secure development. No society, let alone individual human beings, can develop without some kind of security, i.e. knowing that they are likely to exist tomorrow too. And no security can be provided without various kinds of material, intellectual and spiritual resources. The connecting point between the two are, of course, conflicts – conflicts about scarce resources and development policies as well as conflicts about what security means at the individual, local, state, regional and global level. Thus, peace can be expanded to mean: handling well – i.e. with as little violence as possible - the conflicts that are bound to arise when societies develop security and secure development

It goes without saying that a post-war situation like Burundi’s must address security and peace in order to hope to jumpstart its economy, produce and sell its products and attract foreign aid and investments. Similarly, when thousands of former soldiers are de-mobilised and refugees turn back to their villages, there must be schools for their children, health facilities and employment opportunities in order to make the peace path more attractive than the path of falling back into war and genocide.

18. In several articles TFF has argued for a new concept of peace aid and, it could be added, post-war media attention. If countries struggling hard to make and solidify peace are forgotten or lose out in the competition with war-torn countries about global media attention, they are likely to be overlooked by international (aid) organizations and political decision-makers, and then they are likely to see their peace process stall and to face, unwillingly and unfairly, the risk of fallbacks into genocide and war.

For former combatants to begin to work together on rebuilding the country and healing the socio-psychological wounds, there has to be offered opportunities to meet, gain a basic knowledge of conflict-resolution, negotiation, democratic governance – and approach the hugely difficult problems of truth, forgiveness and reconciliation. TFF can not and shall not do this alone; it aims only to offer such peace aid to its 13 Amahoro Coalition members – and other parties in Burundi – that it helps empowering them to do the real job on the ground.

In summary, solidifying the peace process, root it in civil society in Burundi is the key to development and perceived citizens security which, in its turn, is the key to preventing a fall back into genocide. If successful Burundi’s peace process will also make a considerable contribution to stabilizing the Great Lakes region.

  

Project background

19. TFF has worked on and off in Burundi since 1999. Two streams meet here. First, in 1996, TFF wrote a background paper for the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on reconciliation and forgiveness. 1999-2000, the foundation developed a multi-year research programme “Supporting Reconciliation and Forgiveness. A Study of Processes and Policies and the Feasibility of Developing Action Research Networks in Conflict Regions.”  (See http://www.transnational.org/Resource_Index_Reconcil.htm).
Everything TFF does has a focus on conflict analysis/conflict mitigation as well as forgiveness and reconciliation – as part of the overall human dimensions of complex conflicts. It is reflected in several publications such as the foundation’s Millennium Statement, Time for Forgiveness, and the publication “The World Needs Reconciliation and Forgiveness Centres.”
Second, in 1999 TFF was invited by Burundi’s then Minister of Higher Education, Prosper Mpawenayo, to participate in a conference and do fact-finding with the aim to develop a plan for the overall development of institutes, education and training in peace, tolerance, and reconciliation. This report was intended as a government document, the provisions of which would be implemented as soon as the peace process chaired by Nelson Mandela would yield the necessary results to set in motion such a process. This document, “Developing Peace Education Programmes for Burundi” was produced free of charge and handed over to the Minister in August 1999 (44 pages).
In summary, neither Burundi nor the theme of reconciliation is new to TFF.
Much more information here
http://www.transnational.org/Area_Index_Burundi.htm

 

TFF competence

20. TFF is an independent scholarly foundation set up in 1986. Its mission is “peace - learning to handle conflicts with ever less violence. Our tools are new ideas, listening, research, mitigation, education and advocacy”. The foundation has carried out some 70 field missions to all parts of former Yugoslavia since 1991 and fact-finding missions to Georgia (including South Ossetia and Abkhazia). During the last few years, it has conducted on-the-ground work in Iraq and, lately, Greenland.
It is a networking organisation that puts together teams for special tasks. As an all-volunteer organisation, it does not employ permanent staff but co-ordinates over 100 associates with very different backgrounds in the Nordic countries and the rest of the world.
Six TFF Associates are responsible for the Burundi project in various capacities:

Christian Hårleman, Lieutenant Colonel, Rtd, chairman of the TFF Board, deades of experience as UN peacekeeper, one fact-finding mission to Burundi. Project director with Oberg (see below).
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/tff/people/c_harleman.html

Gudrun Engström, nurse, TFF adviser, several missions to Burundi as head of the office of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s operations there.
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/tff/people/g_engstrom.html

Evelin Lindner, medical doctor and PhD in psychology, dissertation on humiliation and healing, several visits to Burundi and conflict regions in Africa and other continents.
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/tff/people/e_lindner.html

Else Hammerich, former lecturer at Teacher’s College in Copenhagen, former member of the European Parliament, experienced teacher and trainer in conflict-resolution, reconciliation and negotiation with numerous groups, including training and establishment of the Tibetan Conflict Resolution Center in Dharamshala, India under Dalai Lama’s blessings. TFF board member.
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/tff/people/e_hammerich.html

Chantal Mutamuriza, President and founder of Burundian ACAT, Action by Christians Against Torture, since 2001, numerous diploma courses abroad in human rights, peace, conflict-resolution and election monitoring. TFF Associate and project coordinator in Burundi.
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/tff/people/c_mutamuriza.html

Jan Oberg, PhD in sociology, all-round peace and conflict researcher, experienced in theoretical and practical field conflict resolution and peace work. Project coordinator with Hårleman.
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/tff/people/j_oberg.html

TFF is experienced in its professional field and in working in war-zones – all parts of former Yugoslavia, Georgia, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia, etc. It is also a respected comprehensive Internet organisation known for emphasising public outreach and sharing its knowledge and experiences widely.
All information about the foundation is available at this Internet address: http://www.transnational.org/about.htm: values, mission and history, programmes, associates, publications, etc.

 

The 13 Amahoro Coalition member organizations

 

21. These are the NGOs with which we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding:

• African Public  Radio - Radio Publique Africaine (RPA)
• Association des Femmes Juristes du Burundi (AFJ)
• Association Pour La Paix et les Droit de l'Homme (APDH)
Compagnie des Apôtres de la Paix (CAP)
• Centre d'Alerte et de Prévention des Conflits (CENAP)
• Maison de la Presse du Burundi - House of the Press
• Observatoire de l'Action Gouvernementale (OAG)
• Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Services (THARS)
Universite  Lumiere de Bujumbura
Ligue  Burundaise des Droit de l'Homme – (ITEKA)
• Syndicat des Travailleurs de l'Enseignement du Burundi - The Teachers' Union of Burundi (STEB)
• Forum pour le Renforcement de la Societe Civile (FORSC)
• Genies en Herbes - Youth organization

As will be seen, TFF’s Coalition covers a very wide field of themes: media, teachers, soldiers, women, good governance, human rights, youth, peace, conflict-prevention, trauma healing, etc. They are all legally established, have several years of practical experience with project management and have genuinely committed leaders. While headquartered in Bujumbura, most of them implement projects in one or more provinces. We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with each and all.

 

The Amahoro Coalition and the Amahoro Open Centre

22. This Centre is described in details (and with photos) at the TFF Burundi Forum here:
http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/forum/meet/2005/AmahoroCoal_CenterProp.html. Below follows the executive summary which together with a detailed budget has been submitted to the UN system and a series of embassies and aid organizations in Bujumbura:

“The Amahoro Open Centre will promote horizontal co-operation among the 13 leading Civil Society Organizations, CSOs/NGOs, in the broadly defined field of peace: human rights, conflict analysis and resolution, reconciliation, youth, media, women, education and research. The Amahoro Open Centre is an idea characterised by catchwords such as: community centre, public education facility, self-learning, NGO synergy, public information, conflict-resolution facilitation, public democratic dialogue and outreach to Burundi’s provinces as well as to like-minded activities in the Great Lakes region.

The Centre is the first common project by the Coalition which is a network
bound by a Memorandum of Understanding and consists of STEB, THARS, Maison de la Presse, CAP, FORSC, League ITEKA, OAG, Génies en Herbes, RPA, CENAP, AFJ, APDH and the Universite Lumiere. This is a core group but the Centre will successively be carried by more and more NGOs as members.

Its overall purpose is to help consolidate and develop Burundi’s peace process through a vibrant civil society, and it seeks to establish similar centres throughout the provinces where the Coalition members have activities. It gathers many and different competences in an integrated approach to civil society peace-building and, through the 13 organizations’ members, encompasses many thousand individual members throughout Burundi.

Among the functions and facilities of the Amahoro Centre will be some 20 computers specifically set up with manuals to promote learning in the broad field of peace. There will be seminar rooms, a library, a café, an NGO information and coordination unit, exhibitions, an Auditorium for larger public meeting and conferences – all focusing on peace in a broad sense.

Burundian artists and handicrafts people will, together with Coalition and other volunteers and students, work together to create a colourful aesthetics and positive energy in the Centre which will be situated in the very centre of Bujumbura and have an attractive, welcoming store front at street level.

The total budget is 160.000 € divided into 54.600 € for the physical establishment, facilities and technology; 69.000 € for the first year of operations including salaries and 36.183 € for a series of education and training seminars exclusively for participants from the provinces. The Centre can start with less than that, of course. We seek funding, cash donations and in-kind contributions from countries represented here, from UN organisations, from Burundian companies and wealthy individuals as well as from the Swedish and Danish government. The proposals contain a series of income-generating activities, but the Coalition will have to find funds and seek donations for the first few years to realise this dream in full.

The members of the Coalition have been selected by the Sweden-based Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF. Its associates have offered inspiration, coordination, bridge-building and various types of training to the Coalition members. They have developed and built goodwill for the idea of the Amahoro Open Centre in Coalition-TFF partnership. Chantal Mutamuriza is TFF project co-ordinator in Burundi and serves as focal point/contact person for the Coalition and between that and TFF.

TFF’s work in Burundi since 1999 has been financed by collected foundation means and, since 2005, by the Swedish Folke Bernadotte Academy. The budget proposal covers exclusively Coalition activities, while TFF seeks extension of its grant from the mentioned Swedish government unit.” (Spring 2006)

23. Thus, the Amahoro Open Centre is the first common project among all the NGOs and, together and with synergy, they will serve the Burundian community in general. Traditionally, the NGO culture in Bujumbura is quite individualized; each is seeking good relations and funding abroad for themselves; NGOs are also, more often than not, quite hierarchical and leader-centred.

It is, therefore, a vital part of TFF’s work with the Coalition members to promote organisation democratization, efficient horizontal communication and coordination and thereby achieve synergy so that they will, together, be able to serve the Burundian civil society in an optimal manner.

This is why there is a substantial training-seminar component in this grant proposal; in addition, working together to establish the Amahoro Open Centre will be a highly concrete in-the-field training and learning experience for us all.

 

How TFF plans its work

24. Until funding is obtained from the international community for the Amahoro Open Centre – which is likely to happen during autumn - time will be spent productively. We will conduct one or more training courses for Coalition members according to a prioritized list of themes they have already identified. We will also spend time raising funds in the Burundian business environment, international charities and among individual wealthy Burundians. We will begin looking for a desirable place to hire. Likewise, we will discuss with the UN and others how to obtain donations in kind for the Centre, everything from tables and books to used machines.

The Coalition will have to make the important decision on how to set up the Centre in legal terms and how to establish an organization, share responsibilities and make decisions democratically. All this has to be in place for the moment we have obtained enough funding for the Amahoro Centre to make a modest start up. In other words, a good preparation will be essential for an effective establishment and the first daily activities which we expect will commence in late 2006 or early 2007.

 

The other 5 possible projects

25. This grant’s aim is to enable TFF to be active in Burundi for another year and serve the establishment of the Amahoro Coalition’s Open Centre as its priority. That Centre itself will not be funded through this grant proposal but through the international community in general and by local sources.
In addition, we are seeking funds that enable us to serve also the possible realization of the projects mentioned under 2-6 above. Some, such as possible university courses, can be carried out while TFF team members are anyhow there; other projects, such as developing an international communication strategy will have to seek funds elsewhere. 

 

Expected overall achievements – one-to-three years ahead

26. Solidifying Peace in Burundi is a project with a holistic approach; it has a start-up phase of 12-18 months and is expected to last for three years with the possibility of extending the Coalition's co-operative efforts, depending on the situation and needs in the country. The centre piece will be to facilitate and assist the Coalition members to establish the Amahoro Open Centre.

Concerning what has been achieved so far, please see the Project Activity Report 2005-2006 on TFF’s Burundi Forum: http://www.transnational.org/SAJT/forum/meet/2006/Burundi_Report_2005-2006.html.

Through the project, the Coalition organisations with their thousands of members and activists will significantly contribute to the implementation of the fragile peace process initiated by the Arusha Accord. The Teachers’ Association alone has around 15.000 members throughout the country; Radio RPA and the Press House are main media for reaching people in the provinces.
It will promote knowledge and understanding and practical skills-training in the broad field of peace as defined above. In addition the project will identify and educate a number of peace monitors who will contribute to reduce the risks of violence recurring.

27. The Amahoro Centre with its open community-serving structure will also promote public discussions between citizens and politicians; it could well become the main meeting place in the capital for such open society dialogue and democratization – which the recent elections have opened the road to for the first time in the country’s modern history.
But it will also serve the young. We have ample evidence of the hunger for knowledge among the young generation; they live in a country whose capital does not have a public library, no international bookstore, very little reading material, but where Internet cafés are spreading but expensive. The Coalition and the Centre – perhaps coupled with academic courses at the Lumiere University (a Coalition member) will, beyond doubt, help empower up and coming future leaders of the country and open their horizons to the larger world.
For the project to remain manageable, we have decided at this stage to work with the present 13 NGOs. But local NGOs have already asked to become members of the Coalition. When the Amahoro Centre is a reality, we will open up for a much larger NGO membership in the Centre.

The vision, in other words, is to help make the Burundian peace process walk not only on a government leg but also on a civil society leg. As the Project Activity Report shows, TFF has been able to serve the Burundian society in new ways. The “demand” for much more both among our Coalition members and the five other interested parties clearly indicate the urgency of our continued engagement in Burundi - as the only Nordic peace research and policy institution.

It is now Burundi needs this type of foreign goodwill, impartial and professional assistance. The earlier, the better.   

 

Risks and the attitudes of others

28. Among the general risks to the project are lack of follow-up funding later, breakdown of the Burundian peace process, psychological and other fatigue among the Coalition organisations and members due to the extremely difficult overall situation in the country.

When it comes to TFF team members’ security, we have never faced any problems. Given a continuation of the overall positive development in the country, it is unlikely that we would. Since 1999 TFF has visited the country under much less secure circumstances, when there was neither a UN peacekeeping mission nor a full ceasefire or an elected government. Of course the situation can turn to the worse again, but there is no reason to believe it would prevent us from pursuing our goals and implement the plans we have.

Today the work of TFF is anchored in the NGO community, among embassies, the UN, the Government (Min of Foreign Affairs) and with the Parliament Speaker. In late May, the Amahoro Coalition will be presented to and discussed with the Presidency. We have met only goodwill everywhere.

We have established good relations with other NGOs such as Search for Common Ground, International Alert and, not the least The Norwegian Refugee Council which our adviser Gudrun Engström headed before. They all welcome our work, and we would co-operate with them wherever mutually beneficial – the needs being so huge that there is absolutely no risk of undue competition. Without a single exception, everyone we have presented the Amahoro Coalition and Centre to has received it as very good news.

 

Plan with projected budget 2006-2007

29. The budget below is based on 1 or 2 persons going on six visits/missions to Burundi within 12 months beginning in September or October 2006. We plan to deliver the final report by December 31, 2007 if not before.
The two-person team will be composed from among the 6 TFF Associates mentioned above and will not necessarily be the same during all missions. Each mission will, however, have one of the two coordinators as members to secure continuity and then one who is relevant for the particular mission’s tasks.

30. The contributions of the Burundian NGOs will consist in voluntary work, donations in kind and income-generating activities in relation to the establishment and management of Amahoro Centre. Difficult to put a figure on but undoubtedly considerable and the sine qua non of the project.

 

31. TFF’s work and contribution

Travels                                                                           Swedish Krona (6.8 krona = 1 US $)

4 trips Copenhagen-Burundi for 2 TFF Associates
4 x 2 x 14.000 kronor (return)                                           112.000
Insurance & vaccinations                                                      2.000

Hotel

4 stays x 2 x 10 days x 50 US $   (1 US$ = 7.3 SEK)             29.200

Per diem

4 stays x 2 x 10 days x 325 SEK                                           26.000

Local trips to provinces
Car, petrol, driver                                                                8.000

Two courses, training, workshops

2 such x 3 days x 2 trainers a 3.000 SEK/day                           36.000
Rent of course facility 2 courses x 3 days x 800 SEK                4.800    
2 courses x 3 days x 2 meals per day a 50 kronor x 16 participants   9.600
Interpreters 2 persons x 2 courses x 3 days x 700 SEK                    8.400
                                              
Honorarium to TFF Burundian project coordinator (1)
Before, during and between visits over the year:
4 visits x 20 days x 1 coordinator x 500 SEK/day                            40.000

Honorarium to project director’s 1-month stay in Burundi (2)
Equivalent to one month employment in Sweden (docent)                30.000

 

Local expenses

Mobile phones, copying, materials, local taxis, course
materials, Internet use, miscellaneous,
4 visits x 3.000
                                                                             12.000

For coordinator between visits: Internet café, local travels,
copies, phones to Sweden and locally                                                 5.500

                                                                                                  323.500 SEK

Administrative costs to TFF = 5 % of the above                          16.175

Sum total                                                                                    339.675 SEK

TFF’s own direct contribution toward the project (3)
Equivalent with the budgeted one-time honorarium of one
month to Jan Oberg mentioned above                                               30.000 SEK

Sum total

FBA grant to TFF for project implementation (4)                           309.675 SEK (or US$ 45.540)

Notes

(1) This sum may seem high, given the overall level of income in the country. However, the experienced, highly educated and socially competent coordinator will be principal responsible for all local implementing with the Coalition during the 12-month period. Since TFF does not have a permanent presence/office in Burundi, the project’s success is highly dependent on this coordinator. TFF knows Chantal Mutamuriza well since years back; she is totally reliable and has performed with excellence during the past year.

(2) There is a consensus both locally and among TFF team members that Jan Oberg must make one longer stay of, say, 3-4 week once the Amahoro Centre has obtained enough funding for a place to be found and facilities to be established. That will be a period where both the Coalition and coordinator Chantal Mutamuriza will need extra support. This one-time honorarium was meant to also compensate for Oberg’s loss of income as a free-lance while away.
The project and the longer stay will be carried through as planned while note is taken of FBA’s grant condition that the honorarium be cancelled and considered equal with a direct cash contribution by TFF towards the project. 

(3)  Uniquely, TFF’s worldwide activity rests entirely on voluntary work; it has no employees. A major part of its work is financed by donations from citizens around the world on the foundation’s online site. TFF does the planning, coordination, problem-solving, follow-up, authoring articles, maintenance of a special project website, bookkeeping and project reporting etc. free of charge with unpaid labour over the 12 months.
TFF estimates the working hours going into these activities – without which there would be no project – as equalling three months full-time work. Based on a monthly honorarium of SEK 30.000 this makes SEK 90.000.
Adding the one-month originally budgeted but cancelled honorarium, TFF’s and Jan Oberg’s de facto contribution amounts to SEK 120.000 or 39 per cent of the grant allocated by FBA.                                        

(4) In the decision-making letter - “Beslut om medelsfordelning” – of June 14, 2006, Dnr 082-442-2006 the sum awarded TFF is stated as SEK 340.000. TFF has been informed, however, that this amount is inclusive TFF’s own contribution. Thus, the de facto grant paid to TFF amounts to  SEK 309.675. This fact is deemed to be of importance for the future economic reporting to FBA, including KPMG’s audit of TFF’s management of the grant.

Jan Oberg
Project coordinator, TFF director
Budget revised on September 29, 2006

 

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