LEGAL COMMITTEE Burundi’s Position on the Legal Aspects of Odious Debt

Introduction
Burundi, one of the world’s smallest nations, has just emerged from a 12-year ethnic-based civil war. The war started in 1993 and just ended in 2005, which then caused an alteration in the government political system to take on a democratic form. They are now in process of peace although they are still in the struggle of reviving their shattered economy and forging national unity. Burundi is a landlocked island surrounded by the Democratic republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Burundi’s GDP per capita is about $139, and only 18% of the population has food security. Due to its poor economy, Burundi is at this moment burdened by huge debts and
Many organizations, such as IMF and the World Bank and many countries have helped Burundi by relieving a certain amount of their debts. The IMF has relieved 90% of Burundi’s debt and that’s worth over US$1.4 million which means Burundi may save up to $50 million a year for 10 years. The money is spent in priority areas such as health, education, agriculture, water, and rural infrastructure. In health, more resources will be devoted to building health centers in rural areas and free health care for children under five years old and women at the time of childbirth. In education, increased funds will be dedicated to building schools, recruiting teachers, and providing school materials. As in agriculture, more funds will be dedicated to improving food security, providing potable water, and other rural infrastructure needs. Because of the debt relief, Burundi is now poised to make progress toward better living and reducing the rate of poverty. Thus, debt relief plays an important role in supporting the authorities’ efforts to reach the objectives in their Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Conclusion
Burundi realizes that the struggle that we are facing is challenging and harsh. However, with great effort and consistency, Burundi will overcome the issues that it is currently facing. Corruption has dominated all sectors of Burundi’s politics, economy and other sectors. Thus, Burundi needs to eliminate corruption so it will be fully implemented and increase the