Changing Gendered Realities Through Economic Empowerment in Burundi

As project manager Gender Equality and Inclusion at Jeunesse au Service d’un Burundi Meilleur, Elsa Digne Kagwiza aims to improve socioeconomic opportunities for women and girls in Burundi. She explains that Burundian women face ingrained barriers in the social, legal, economic, and political spheres that disadvantage them. These barriers and inequality can be seen in women’s status at home and in society, opportunities for education, access to social services, (maternal) health services and access to resources.

“Despite the progress made in improving women’s living conditions and defending their rights, there is still a long way to go towards gender equality”.

Elsa with two other participants of the Gender Inclusive Governance training, 2021

Elsa believes that in overcoming said barriers, among the most pertinent challenges are increasing the general knowledge of women’s fundamental rights, and mainstreaming gender in development initiatives.

A learning experience at The Hague Academy 

Elsa joined The Hague Academy to expand her understanding of gender-responsive governance and help her tackle the challenges she identified back home. Her key learnings relate to women’s economic empowerment and the specific challenges in post-conflict settings.

“It was very valuable to share experiences with practitioners from different contexts and realities and grasp new approaches and mechanisms that I can use and share with my colleagues and local partners”.

Elsa learned more about strategies for women’s economic empowerment, such as reducing poverty and unemployment by encouraging non-farming activities and improving household income.

In terms of gender mainstreaming, approaches were discussed that consider the impact of interventions on both men and women. Given Burundi’s post-conflict context, some of her key takeaways also included lessons on the special challenges for gender-sensitive governance in fragile settings.

“It is important to engage men and boys in addressing gender and conflict, masculinities, and gender-based violence”.

A Back-Home Action Plan for Economic Empowerment

During the course, Elsa developed a Back Home Action Plan that she implemented upon her return to Burundi. The plan focuses on advancing the position of young women in the Buterere community of Bujumbura, the country’s economic capital.

“The main objective of my action plan was to empower, equip, motivate, and raise young women and men to their full potential so that they can develop autonomous leadership”.

Elsa aimed to address family income issues by providing micro-savings and micro-loans to vulnerable families through Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), allowing them to invest in their own development. In tandem, she set out to provide workshops on economic inclusion, financial growth strategies, and financial education, with an emphasis on budgeting and setting financial goals.

“Women also received training in entrepreneurship and leadership, on how to set up their own small businesses, make room for their different talents, and pursue their passions”.

Finally, Elsa organised campaigns and workshops to educate men and representatives of local authorities about their roles in addressing gender-based violence and promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights. She also helped victims of violence obtain legal and judicial services.

An Equal Future

Elsa envisions a Burundi in which men and women enjoy equal civic and political rights at all levels and have equal political and economic power. The course has equipped her with new knowledge, skills, ideas and inspiration to contribute in a very tangible way to the larger goal of gender equality in Burundi.

More information

Are you interested in learning more about gender equality and mainstreaming gender into local policies, services, and programmes? Join us for our course on Gender Responsive Governance from 27 October to 7 November 2025 in The Hague.