In accordance with the goals of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework in Burundi , the overall goal of the programme to support reconstruction and community development (Programme d'appui à la reconstruction et au développement communal PARDC) is to promote peace and good governance. More particularly, the programme seeks to assist the Government of Burundi in promoting high quality economic and social growth and establishing a poverty reduction policy.

The programme seeks to facilitate the implementation of overall and sustainable social and economic development with a set of short, medium and long-term actions that meet the immediate needs of the population of one province, Rutana, which is especially in need of basic services and infrastructure and vulnerable to recurrent ecological and food crises. While meeting the population's priority needs, the programme seeks to pioneer an innovative approach that puts the leaders of decentralized local authorities in charge of local development. In particular, the programme emphasizes the role of local authorities in the creation of a social, economic, administrative and legal environment conducive to the active involvement of civil society associations and of the private sector in the struggle against poverty through the creation of jobs and the provision of basic social services. In so doing, the programme espouses the general principles of a national policy that supports development of the private sector and promotion of an environment favourable thereto.

The Programme's three main operational outputs are to :

1. Establish local organs and make them operational;
2. Strengthen the capacities of decentralized local authorities as regards planning, programme budgeting and access to internal and external financial resources;
3. Encourage documentation, capitalisation and dissemination of the programme assets .

• The programme is both complementary and innovative, inasmuch as it seeks to promote overall and sustainable social and economic development under the direct management of the decentralized local authorities (communes) with the participation of grassroots community organizations (collines) and the private sector ( micro and small entreprises ).
• With a balanced set of short, medium and long-term actions and also a mix of actions at the local and national levels, the programme meets the pressing needs of the population of a particularly poor province, Rutana, that is vulnerable to recurrent ecological and food crises while, at the same time, supporting decentralization and the strengthening of local democratic institutions .

The programme will be coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior and Communal Development. Within the Ministry, the office in charge of decentralization and mobilization for self-development will be responsible for facilitating dialogue and collaboration between the Government and its partners and will be directly in charge of the programme. Accordingly, and with the direct technical assistance provided to it by UNCDF, it will coordinate the activities of the programme with those of the other ministries.

• The programme covers the entire province of Rutana , situated in the south-west of Burundi ;
• The direct beneficiaries will be the 275 119 inhabitants of the province, under the administration of six communes (subdivided into a total of 156 collines).

Review and evaluation is based on relevant indicators designed to measure achievement of activities , outputs, effects and impacts. It is computerised and linked to the general system for review and evaluation of UNCDF Local Development Fund (LDF) projects.

Launched in December 2006, PARDC/Rutana has numerous achievements to its credit, namely :

1. At the local level :
   • The preparation and dissemination of tools for the implementation of communal project management: public procurement procedures, a guide to communal planning, a guide on drawing up contracts and on financial settlement procedures for providers, a manual on evaluating the performance of communes, a self-evaluation guide for the communes.
   • Support for planning in two communes
   • The provision of US$ 300 000 in budgetary support enabled the six communes, in 2007, to finance infrastructure projects in health and in education, two sectors to which the authorities have given priority in their development plans. In 2008, these same communities will receive budgetary support in the amount of US$ 400 000; this will be used not only for health and education but also for food security.

2. At the national level:

   The PARDC/Rutana senior technical advisor acts as technical advisor to the Ministry of the Interior and Communal Development. He is responsible for preparation of the policy of decentralization. Currently, efforts are being focused on preparation of a national decentralization policy, preparation of a triennial plan of action to implement decentralization, identification of the role of government and of local authorities in the context of decentralization, and the policy of deconcentration of government technical services.

• Difficulty of securing the financial resources needed in order to fully achieve programme goals.
• The tax system of local administrations is weak due, primarily, to the lack of taxable resources and the inability to obtain new sources of revenue. Added to this is the fact that local authorities are frequently burdened with debt inherited from previous administrations.

• Mobilization of resources, restarting and promotion of the local economy and diversification of the rural economy by creating jobs and raising income and by building the capacity of local institutions.