The appeal is being revised to include a Mine Risk Education (MRE) program by DanChurchAid (DCA) targeting Burundian refugees in camps in Kibondo district in Tanzania. With the recent positive developments to the peace process in Burundi, there is an overall improvement of the security situation in the country and UNHCR-facilitated return of refugees to some provinces in Burundi is already taking place. In 2003 more than 80,000 refugees returned from Tanzania despite the security situation being much more fragile and uncertain than today. This year there are plans for facilitating the return of 150,000 refugees from Tanzania a country hosting over 350,000 officially registered refugees. The UNHCR is planning to start facilitating the return of the refugees to the southern provinces of Burundi, i.e. Makamba and Rutana, at the end of April 2004. Both of these provinces have reported landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) accidents affecting civilians.

The ten year civil conflict has left behind landmines and UXO in some of the provinces of the country which need to be cleared to avoid accidents when most of refugees return from exile. The mine-contaminated provinces in Burundi have been identified as Bujumbura Rural, Bubanza, Cibitoke, Ruyigi, Rutana and Makamba, the last three of which border Tanzania. The Lutheran World Federation / Tanganyika Christian Refugee Services (LWF/TCRS) data states that 27% of the 127,000 refugees hosted in Kibondo camps in Kigoma region of Tanzania are from the mine-affected provinces, most of whom have not even basic mine awareness.

DCA is launching this program within the Burundi 2004 appeal targeting the refugees in Kibondo refugee camps managed by the LWF/TCRS with the objective to educate the refugee community from the mine-contaminated provinces inside Burundi, about the dangers of mines and unexploded ordnance. The project will be implemented over a period of 4 months.

For the sake of brevity this revision includes the DCA proposal only. For other proposals please see the original appeal issued on 26 February 2004.

Project Completion Date:

CNEB - 31 December 2004

NCA - 31 January 2005

CAID - 31 December 2004

DCA - 31 August 2004

Signed by:

Thor-Arne Prois, ACT Director