Where We Work:

In Burundi,

IPI partnered with FVS-AMADE Burundi, a community-based humanitarian organization that uses village savings and loan associations to support the care of orphans and other vulnerable children in Burundi. It was launched in response to both the AIDS epidemic and the Burundian civil war, which lasted from 1993 to 2005 followed by periods of unrest. IPI made investments in economic initiatives that would grow and help sustain FVS’s work, especially focused on an orphanage and academy in Matana. 

Lessons Learned

Local, Local, Local: We’ve known for years that turning to the locals for leadership produces the most effective, efficient, and pervasive peace solutions; however, Burundi showed us just how true that could be. In partnering with FVS-AMADE Burundi, we witnessed first-hand how effective investing in local peace can be.

Community Leadership and Solidarity: Ensuring the community is at the center of solutions for peace and development ensures hyper-local leadership can truly integrate the processes down to the individual. Additionally, having multiple community members playing formal roles in a project can enhance efficacy, ensure transparency, and garner community-wide support. 

Locally Evaluated: What does success look like? What are we aiming toward? If we’re not asking the locals these questions first, we are not genuinely accompanying peace programming but imposing ideas. Local leadership means local methodology and success. This includes relying on local media to tell the story.