The Burundi government said it would attend regional talks tomorrow aimed at ending a year-long cycle of violence that has claimed about 450 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Mediated by the East African Community (EAC), a regional body of which Burundi is a member, the talks have been repeatedly postponed since a first meeting in December that was chaired by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, where the government officials refused to share a table with what it considers insurgent groups.

Spokesman Willy Nyamitwe said that restriction still applied, but added: “We have received an invitation and we will go.”

Burundi’s political crisis broke out in April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would seek a third term, a move opponents said violated the constitution.

After putting down an attempted coup in May led by generals opposed to his continued rule, he was re-elected in July, supported by a favourable court ruling.

Violence has steadily escalated since, with tit-for-tat killings between Nkurunziza’s security forces and rebels who took up arms against his government.

The next phase of talks is due to take place on Saturday in Arusha in neighbouring Tanzania, under the mediation of that country’s former president Benjamin Mkapa.

One opposition party, the CNDD, said it would attend, while others had yet to confirm their presence. The government recognises the CNDD as a legitimate interlocutor.

Meanwhile, a May 19 release by the EAC Mediator, former Tanzania President Mkapa, indicates that preparations  for  the dialogue  are all  in their  different  advanced stages of  their completion, and invitations to the Government of Burundi, Former Presidents of Burundi, Political  Parties,  Civil Society  Organization,  Religious  Groups and some selected important political actors have all gone. So far the Office of the Facilitator has received confirmations for participations from over 63 entities.

Delegates start arriving by today, ready for the opening ceremony that will be attended by the Executive Secretary of the ICGLR, Special Envoys from the USA, Belgium, UK, EU, AU and the UN; and some Ambassadors and High  Commissioners  accredited to Tanzania. The Dialogue  is expected to conclude on Wednesday, 25th May, 2016 with the decision being reached on the agenda, venue and participation to the next dialogue.

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President Jacob Zuma arrived in Pretoria on an alternative flight this morning after his presidential jet, the Inkwazi, developed technical problems in Qatar, the Presidency said.

In February this year, while on a state visit to Burundi, the Inkwanzi developed technical problems, delaying President Zuma’s return home by a day.

“The aircraft used by the President, Inkwazi, developed technical problems in Qatar resulting in the use of an alternative aircraft to return to Pretoria,” said the Presidency in a statement.

Meanwhile, on arrival in South Africa today, Zuma headed for the centenary celebrations of the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape, where he will be joined by other heads of state including Zimbabwe’s 92-year-old leader, Robert Mugabe.

“The State Visit to the State of Qatar was successfully concluded with the signing of several agreements and commitments, which further enhanced and elevated bilateral relations between the two countries to a strategic level,” said the Presidency.

Zuma and the Emir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, witnessed the signing of the Agreement on Defence Cooperation, Agreement on Police Cooperation, and the Agreement on Cooperation in Arts, Culture and Heritage.

“In this regard, South Africa and Qatar agreed to establish a Joint Investment Committee to oversee the implementation of agreements, in addition to the structured bilateral consultations,” Zuma, whose visit began with Zuma’s interaction with the South Africa-Qatari Business Forum, said.

There is a large South African expatriate community in Qatar working in various sectors, as well as a number of South Africa companies including Nandos and Ocean Basket and, oil giant Sasol.

The visit also presented an opportunity for the two leaders to exchange views on the recent developments in the Middle East, including the Middle East Peace Process and the Palestine question.

The Presidency said Sheikh Al-Thani accepted an invitation from Zuma to visit South Africa.

Whilst in Doha, President Zuma paid a courtesy call on the Father Emir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

Zuma was accompanied by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa.

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A new global and local-focused network of NGOs, the Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR) that includes Interaid Uganda will be launched on May 22, ahead of World Humanitarian Summit to be held at the Hilton Bosphorus in Istanbul.

According to a release, is a network of local and national NGOs who have come together in an attempt to restructure the global response to economic, human and environmental threats.

So far, 30 African organizations, 21 from Asia and five from the Middle East have committed to join NEAR and they will focus on four main areas of work: advocacy, financing, organizational development and research, the release adds.
‘It’s clear that local people and organizations are often the fastest to react in a crisis – their local knowledge and ingenuity can save lives in an emergency, or find effective solutions to longer-term challenges. But local voices are often not given the attention they deserve in these situations –large international organizations often take priority over smaller local groups,’ the release states in part. .

Degan Ali, Executive Director of Nairobi-based NGO Adeso and also a member of the NEAR Leadership Council, which has been working on the creation of NEAR since 2014, says: “After many months of consultations with local organizations and regional networks across the world, we are excited to finally launch. We hope NEAR will provide the much-needed platform to strengthen the collective voice of those working directly with local communities.”

Other members of the NEAR Leadership Council include Scholastica Nasinyama of Interaid Uganda; Sema Genel (Support to Life); Rezaul Karim Chowdhury – COAST (Bangladesh); Manu Gupta – SEEDS (India); Amjad Mohamed-Saleem –Independent (Sri Lanka) and Filbert Leone – HDC (South Sudan).
According to the release, there’s been an increase in resources for humanitarian and development aid and the need is growing too because the number of affected populations has doubled in the past decade.

‘Crucially, the amount of resources actually reaching people in need is going down.
NEAR aims to close this widening gap by putting people at the centre of delivery, and strengthening local organizations and communities – making sure the system works for the people in whose name money is raised’ the release further states.
NEAR’s Executive Director Smruti Patel said the response to challenges is dependent on how resilient the community is, and how well prepared the government and local organizations are.
Hari Darshan Shrestha, Executive Director of Centre of Resilient Development from Nepal—a member of NEAR, noted that a lot of the organisations especially from Africa, Asia, Middle East and Latin America share similar challenges.

“We can work together on these issues, share our experiences, lessons, and with combined efforts, find some solutions to these challenges,” Shrestha says.

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