Breaking the Silence - Burundi

If you don’t read about it in the news, did it really happen? Every year, humanitarian crises affect millions of people around the world. From natural disasters to conflict and displacement, some crises make headlines, some don’t.
For this event series, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom teamed up with the aid organization CARE.
CARE’s annual report “Breaking the Silence” highlights the ten most underreported crises of the past year. Together we shine a spotlight on each crisis, giving room for discussion and hearing from experts about challenges, opportunities, and the resilience of affected communities in each country.

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world and has been on CARE’s list of forgotten humanitarian crises every year bar one. Of the almost 13 million inhabitants, more than 70 percent live below the poverty line.
We hereby invite you to examine the situation of the country from a humanitarian and political point of view together with international experts.

CARE was founded in 1945 to support post-war Europe with the famous CARE packages. Today, the independent aid organization works in over 100 countries to provide humanitarian aid and fight poverty with a focus on empowering women and girls.

Gast
Afurika Juvenal
Since May 2018 Country Director for CARE in Burundi, Afurika assumes the overall management oversight and strategic leadership of CARE's presence and operations in Burundi. Prior to his current assignment, Afurika led, for five years, a large scale and innovative social protection/food security program (over $ 100M), an intensive and complex operation with over 550 staff, including a dozen senior leaders of integrated teams drawn from a consortium comprising CARE, WFP, Action Contre La Faim, World Vision, and the Haiti Ministry of Social Affairs. Afurika is an experienced professional with extensive international development and humanitarian experience, including 15 years in senior management and technical positions. Afurika professional experience spans a variety of developmental contexts in East-Central Africa, West Africa, and the Caribbean. Afurika’s track record includes management of country and multi-country/regional program portfolios. As East-Central Africa Deputy Regional Director for CARE, Afurika co-designed, led and supported complex organizational and program review processes across the region

Moderation
Britta Sophie Weck
… is an intercultural trainer with a focus on Islam and has worked with various institutions in the German education and government sector. Additionally, she advises professionals and executives as a communications trainer and moderates web talks and discussions on various international and interdisciplinary topics. She lived in Latin America and Southeast Asia, holds a degree in communication, and worked as a PR consultant in brand communication.

Gast
Jeremie Nkunzimana
Jeremie Nkunzimana is a Burundian HRD and former civil servant at the ministry of foreign affairs in Burundi ( 2002-2007). Jeremie currently works for DefendDefenders since February 2017 as a Project Officer for our Great Lakes Region project, before being elevated to become overall project coordinator in September 2021. Before joining DefendDefenders, Jeremie was the CEO of the “ Forum pour le Renforcement de la Societe Civile (FORSC)”, the main CSO platform in Burundi. He joined FORSC in February 2012, while serving as a Project Officer in charge of the Regional Integration Programme, funded by Trademark East Africa from 2012 to 2015. Before joining FORSC, Jeremie also worked as Monitoring and Evaluation Project officer with Chemonics International, a NGO that implemented the USAID-Burundi Policy Reform Project (2007-2011). His professional experience started with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2002-2007), as an advisor in the Information Department. Jeremie holds a diploma in History and Political Sciences from the University of Burundi (1996-2002). He was also trained in Diplomacy and International Relations at the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, IRIC (2014-2015). In 2019, he received a postgraduate diploma in Project Planning and Managementwas at Kampala International University, in Uganda. Jeremie is a hard and good networker. He likes jogging, walking, and swimming.