BUJUMBURA, November 27th (ABP) – Young people and women are capable of getting involved in politics just like men, but must have the support of the latter by placing them in the first places on the election lists, in order to access decision-making positions. This is the opinion expressed by Pélagie Gahungu, leader of the non-governmental organization, Burundi Leadership Training Program (BLTP), on Thursday, November 21, 2024, in Kabezi district, during the provincial forum for the presentation of district platforms supported by BLTP and other organizations.
Men are selfish, she continued to say, pointing out that they reserve better places for themselves, the first or the second; young people and women are relegated to the last. Gahungu calls on young people and women to position themselves well and conquer those places, in order to be placed in decision-making spheres. “In this case, they will have the floor, they will defend their interests and those of their young and female colleagues,” Gahungu added. She specified that these local platforms were set up so that young people and women have a framework for exchange that allows them to discuss the challenges they face, to break the taboos and barriers related to the period of crisis that Burundi has gone through with all the consequences related to it, in particular divisions of all kinds, and poverty.
The implementation of projects according to the priorities of these platforms has allowed members from different political parties and different ethnic groups to discover each other and realize that they have the same challenges related to everyday life, which strengthens social cohesion and peace, she said.