From September 2019 to February 2022, Search for Common Ground implemented, with support from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, the program “Tubiri Tuvurana Ubupfu: Strengthening Trust and Positive Relations Between Youth and Police in Burundi.”

The “Tubiri Tuvurana Ubupfu” project’s main aim was to strengthen trust and positive relationships between youth and police to prevent violence before, during and after the 2020 electoral cycle. To this effect, the project set out to transform the relationship between the two groups by encouraging constructive and humanizing interactions, and also with other members of the community. The project intended, in particular, to harness the potential of mixed security committees.

AP’s staff Ylenia Rocchini and Bernardo Monzani, together with Kelly–Ange Irakoze, conducted the final evaluation of the project.

The evaluation confirms the effectiveness of the project, and identifies positive elements relating to its impact and sustainability. This said, there are two challenges worth highlighting. The first relates to the participation of police officers, which was different than that of young people, for reasons outside of Search’s control, but nonetheless significant for impact and sustainability. The second challenge relates to the participation of women. The project was not able to reach gender parity across several activities, primarily because the institutions it targeted, the mixed security committees and the police force, are male–dominated. Yet, more research should done to understand why women participate less on this front, to build a more gender–sensitive approach capable, if anything, at least to build the basis for greater inclusivity in future endeavours.