Contact Information
- Where – Burundi (Eastern Africa)
- Website – www.cedac.webs.com
- Contact Person – Eric Niragira
- Email – ericniragira@gmail.com
Areas of Expertise
CEDAC has expertise in a range of areas, including:
- Culture
- Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
- Good Governance and Security Sector Reform
- Human, Minority and Women’s Rights
- Mediation and Negotiation
- Reconciliation and Dealing with the Past
Main Aims and Objectives
CEDAC is an apolitical organization without lucrative objectives and with no denominational affiliation. Created in Bujumbura in 2005, CEDAC is engaged in the training and development of ex-combatant and victims of war, looking for peace, fighting for human rights.
Upholding the Principles of Conflict Transformation
CEDAC works with those who were actors during conflicts in Burundi; its mission is to help them to use these same forces in the prevention of conflicts, by using their testimonies about how bad conflict is. CEDAC provides training in conflict prevention and works with them on campaigns against armed violence. For CEDAC, conflict is normal to any society but it becomes negative when people use violence to solve their problem. So CEDAC has an approach called ‘Peer-to-Peer Support’, where any person can help another to solve problems without using power.
Where and with Whom
CEDAC is active around the country and its members are active in all communities in Burundi.
Main Activities in the Field of Conflict Transformation
1. Socio-economic support to women formerly associated with armed groups in Burundi
With the support of the UNDP, CEDAC started a project of socioeconomic empowerment for women formely associated with armed groups in three provinces – Bubanza, Bujumbura and Cibitoke. CEDAC provided capacity-building support and knowledge to assist 41 groups of women, with 25 to 30 people in each group. Though activities focusing on farming, small business development and vegetable planting, the women were provided with an opportunity to become self-dependent and generate sustainble income.
2. Economic support to ex-combatants of the Rumonge Commune
CEDAC started a project of job creation for ex-combatants of the Rumonge Commune in the province of Bururi. This project was supported by the UNDP generated job for 146 ex-combatants. By employing ex-combatants on the construction of a road, each could earn sufficient income to cover basic needs. Through the UNDP’s approach, CEDAC pay two-thirds of the salary and puts the remaining one-third of the salary in the bank, which will help them start income generating activities at the end of the project. This project complements CEDAC’s mission to help ex-combatants and victims of war to contribute to sustainable development.
