Projects > Brief descriptions > Strengthening the capacity of the police in Burundi

Contact person

Ms Sabine Wenz
Email: sabine.wenz@giz.de

Strengthening the capacity of the police in Burundi

Project description

Title: Strengthening the capacities of police structures in Africa – Burundi
Commissioned by: German Federal Foreign Office (AA)
Country: Burundi
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Public Security of Burundi
Overall term: 2008 to 2011

Context

Burundi is currently in a phase of post-conflict transition. At the end of the 12-year civil war, many donors focused their attention on stabilising the security situation and integrating the army. In 2004, the Government of Burundi united five different security organisations in order to form a single national police force (Burundi National Police – BNP) which absorbed many demobilised combatants. This oversized police force currently numbers about 17,000 partly militarised and inadequately trained police officers. The great challenge for the Burundian Government is to improve the training and integration of police officers and to downsize the entire police force.

Objective

The Burundi National Police (BNP) operates professionally and its functional capacities are strengthened.

Approach

GIZ is carrying out a programme on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office (AA) to strengthen the capacities of police structures in Africa. This programme is active in several African countries, including Burundi. It strengthens police forces and police institutions through measures to provide training, infrastructure and equipment and also develops management capacities.

In coordination with the United Nations and the Burundian Ministry of Public Security and in close cooperation with other donors, the GIZ project aims to strengthen the functional and professional capacities of the BNP.

The project focuses also on collaboration between the police, local government and the population (community policing); and promotes gender equality within the police force.

Results achieved so far

By early 2011, 21 police stations in five different provinces had been constructed and fully equipped. These project activities and the implementation of training measures have substantially improved local police officers’ working conditions and their ability to perform their tasks.

Furthermore, GIZ and the BNP have completely rehabilitated and equipped the central BNP garage in Bujumbura. Training provided to staff has improved vehicle management. This fully functional garage enables the BNP to carry out its own repairs, which has increased mobility and also led to greater financial independence.

In Makamba Province, a pilot workshop has improved cooperation between all the relevant security partners. The project has helped to set up a joint security committee (CMS) and has supported the BNP in developing training modules in the field of community policing. This has contributed to closer cooperation and mutual understanding among the police, local administrations and the population.

Training to support female police officers and the establishment of the Burundi Women’s Police Network (Réseau des femmes policières) have contributed to strengthening gender responsive policing within the BNP structure and have also helped to improve the image of the police force as a whole in the eyes of the population it serves.