When I embarked on a journey in 2024 to conduct oral historical and archival research in Burundi for the Children of War project, the country was going through what Professor Julien Nimubona, a political scientist from the University of Burundi, has referred to as a major multisectoral crisis at the political, economic, and institutional levels. While so much can be said about this research trip, in this piece, I reflect mainly on some socio-economic challenges and how they affected my research journey.
- Brief background
After gaining its independence from Belgium in 1962, Burundi faced several episodes of violent ethno-political conflicts between the Hutu and the Tutsi. During the civil war of 1993-2005, children, adolescents and youth were used by different armed groups. The war ended with the signing of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement (2000) and the subsequent ceasefire agreements with the remaining rebel groups. These agreements paved the way for peacebuilding and post-war reconstruction in Burundi (Curtis 2013, Lemarchand 2007, Vandeginste 2015).
Following a period of relative calm, Burundi experienced a major political crisis in 2015, when protests and a failed coup against then-President Pierre Nkurunziza led to widespread repression of political opponents and civil society. Teenagers in secondary schools, including some involved in the demonstrations, were not spared in the crackdown. Furthermore, some imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling party CNDD-FDD, took part in repressing real and perceived opponents.
2. Socio-economic crisis
Although I had lived in and visited Burundi regularly before 2015, I found significant changes upon returning to conduct research for the first time. Burundi has been undergoing a substantial and unprecedented socio-economic crisis. The reasons for the current socio-economic crisis are complex and disputed, but one factor is the economic sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States of America from 2015-20. These sanctions were a result of political violence and widespread human rights abuses by the regime. The sanctions had a tremendous effect on the post-conflict country, which was worsened by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis is also associated with mismanagement of public resources, the privatisation of the state, and corruption (See: Iwacu; RFI).
The socio-economic crisis is visible in daily life and heavily impacts most Burundians. In the last years, there has been a shortage of foreign currency and fuel, rising prices of essential goods, and inflation (see: Iwacu, TV5 Monde). An emblematic image of this crisis has been the long queues of vehicles waiting, sometimes for days, at petrol stations in Bujumbura to get fuel.
The situation has particularly affected vulnerable categories, such as children. The lack of fuel has worsened inequality in access to schools. Well-off parents have been able to buy overpriced fuel on the black market to ensure their children reach school on time, while some less well-off parents have had their children change school or leave education. The challenges of getting to school have impacted the well-being and learning of children, as some children arrive at school tired, having woken up early and walked long distances. Another worrying trend is the perceived rise of children living in the streets. These children often find themselves in this situation because of the poverty they face in their families (see: Iwacu; Iwacu; Yaga-Burundi; SOS Medias Burundi; UNICEF).
3. Reflections
During my research in Burundi, the lack of fuel impacted and sometimes stopped the data collection. Rising fuel and taxi prices put pressure on grant budgets. The need to be careful with fuel was compounded by the fact that I had to return to places several times before meeting the people I was looking for or gaining access to documents.
In other instances, employees had to leave earlier than usual to find transport home. One day, I was in an office consulting fascinating archival material. A few hours before the official closure of 5 PM, an employee told me she had to close the office to catch her bus. She apologised and said that it had taken her several hours in the morning and that she had to get home to look after her young children. As in many societies worldwide, women and girls in Burundi carry out most of the unpaid household and care labour. The crisis might have worsened gender disparities, but this is a topic for future research.
Many people in Burundi shared with me their perception that the socio-economic situation in Burundi had deteriorated. They felt powerless and were disappointed by the rise in commodity prices, the lack of fuel, the poor purchasing power and the lack of foreign currency. While no informants asked for financial rewards, there were instances when people asked me for a bit of money. An example would be a Librarian who was very helpful and asked me, once I left Burundi, to help him financially.
Like during my doctoral research on policing pluralism in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), I felt torn between the ethical imperatives of not giving rewards and the moral dimension of asking people (including those going through a difficult situation) for their time and information, which would mostly benefit the research, for free. How I navigated the long-standing and complex debates around the ethics of payment and rewards for research participants will be developed in future publications.
By Pamela Nzabampema