Burundi and the ongoing humanitarian crisis .....

Crisis erupted in Burundi about 2 months ago when President Nkurunziza decided to go for a third term, violating in the People's view an existing peace treaty.
The law however found him not guilty saying that his first election did not count as it was not done by public vote.
The interventions of the UN and the International community has yielded limited results, with the president and other political leaders deciding to proceed with the elections as planned despite the unrest. 

Burundi celebrated her 53rd independence on Wednesday July 1 amidst protests.
Six people were also killed on Wednesday amid the protests.
The UN has said the parliamentary elections held on monday is not a free and fair election, with the opposition boycotting the election.

Over the last weekend, some ten thousand more Burundians fled the country ahead of the parliamentary elections for fear of electoral violence.
The borders have since then been closed officially since the 29th of June as it is done normally for 48 hours during elections.
More people may be forced to escape through the forests.
Officially there are 144,000 registered Burundi refugees in 5 neighbouring countries. It is believed though that there are more unregistered refugees in the said countries.

Health, water and sanitation for the Burundi refugees have been severely underfunded, leaving the refugees in deplorable conditions, as only 13% of the needed $207 million for 200,000 Burundi refugees has been realised by the UNHCR and partners.

UNICEF in a statement made on the 3rd of July has warned that more children are bearing the brunt of the prolonged unrest and pre electoral violence in Burundi.
8 kids have lost their lives to this, with 3 of the deaths occurring in the last six days.
Among the said deaths were the death of a 4 year old who was killed by a stray bullet to the stomach and that of  a child who was killed by a grenade explosion.

“Preventing children from experiencing and witnessing violence was everyone's responsibility,” said Mr. Boulierac. 
Indicating that UNICEF had earlier called all levels of Burundian society, including the authorities, security forces and families, as well as the Government of Burundi, to use all influence to protect children and to ensure they were not exposed to violence, arbitrary arrest or unlawful detention. 
He concluded by saying that “Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with one of the highest child malnutrition rates and figures on the top of the Global Hunger index. Prolonged insecurity that provokes repetitive displacement of people is likely to have a massive impact on an already vulnerable population."

Children are the leaders of tomorrow; the future of a nation. Early exposure to violence and instability is detrimental to their health, development and psychology of life and in the end may produce adults and leaders that are psychologically and emotionally handicapped.

Our hearts are with these innocent children who are caught in a web of conflict they did not start and we appeal once again to the members of the International community to rise up to the need of these severely impoverished and suffering people.
It is not enough to just give them a roof over their heads; their Health, Sanitation and the availability of safe portable water is crucial in the prevention of outbreaks.

We know that the International community may feel overwhelmed with the needs that have arisen in recent times across the world due to violence.
We implore world leaders to assist in minimizing the suffering of the displaced Burundians.