This report examines youth inpost-conflict Burundi. The research responds to the nascentbut growing body of knowledge on conflict, young men andgender. War and violence have devastated societies andeconomies throughout Africa with young men being the mainperpetrators of this violence. This research attempts tocontribute to this body of knowledge. It looks at youth andyoung men in particular in two countries emerging from yearsof ethnic conflict, with a view to identifying if gendernorms may increase the risk of renewed conflict. Specificobjectives of the research in Burundi were to examine howpoor and excluded youth are faring and coping in thecountry's post-conflict environment; how genderdynamics are playing out in Burundian society and how thesemay contribute to increased risk of renewed conflict; andwhat the implications of findings are in terms of futurepolicy and programming. The study takes a special look atyouth ex-combatants who are in the process of beingreintegrated back into their communities, given that thisgroup has been a focus of a high profile demobilization andreintegration program in Burundi and given thatex-combatants are considered to represent a higher risk torenewed fighting. The report is organized as follows. Afterthis introductory chapter, chapter two presents the contextfor the study, and includes a definition of youth as well asa brief description of the country context and socioeconomicindicators for youth. Chapter three presents the mainresearch findings on how youth are faring, how they seetheir prospects, and the challenges they face, includingthose related to meeting gender norms and other socialinstitutions.Chapter four presents a description of thepolicy response and programs targeting youth, scanty as theymay be. Lastly, chapter five summarizes the study'smain findings and conclusions, and presents an overallapproach for youth development as well as policy directions.
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