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Central Africa | 61had been too close to his political opponents, andasked for the mission to leave.BINUB took over many of ONUB’s non-militaryduties on 1 January 2007. It was also chargedwith overseeing a ceasefire between the governmentand Palipehutu-FNL, the last major rebel group,signed in October 2006. A South African contingentfrom ONUB remained in Burundi to providesecurity. It was decided that Burundi would be oneof the first countries put on the PBC’s agenda, andit agreed to a country strategy in June 2007.The political situation in Burundi was notpromising. Talks between President Nkurunziza’sgovernment and the FNL broke down in thesecond quarter of the year, and t<strong>here</strong> was heavyfighting between FNL factions in September 2007.BINUB had only an observer status in the talks,and a South African mediator led efforts to calmmatters. In April and May 2008, government forcesand the FNL returned to hostilities, which lastedone month. Over the course of the year, the FNLand government resolved their differences, and inJanuary 2009 the FNL turned itself into a “normal”political party.Following this success, Uganda, Tanzaniaand South Africa (the leading members of thelong-standing Regional Initiative for Burundi)announced the creation of a Partnership for Peacein Burundi (PPB). This involved the three countriesas well as BINUB – additionally tasked with actingas the new entities’ secretariat – and the InternationalConference for the Great Lakes Region. ThePPB’s goals were to prepare the way for electionsscheduled for 2010 and assist in rehabilitatingrestive former FNL fighters.The optimism of early 2009 eroded as the2010 elections approached. In late 2009, Burundi’sgovernment requested that the UN replace theExecutive Representative of the Secretary-General,Youssef Mahmoud. Although government spokesmeninsisted this was a routine request, they did notdeny that they felt Mahmoud had been too criticalof the authorities and too lax on the opposition.As the polls approached, a steady stream of violentincidents – often involving the radical youth wingsof the competing parties – added to internationalconcerns, especially as the police did little to haltthe violence.On 1 June 2010, the main opposition candidatescompeting with President Nkurunziza for theUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) is met by Yves Sahinguvu, First VicePresident of the Republic of Burundi, as he arrives in Burundi capital Bujumbura.presidency – including FNL leader AgathonRwasa – withdrew, citing intimidation and fraud.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visitedBurundi just over a week later and urged all partiesto move forward with the electoral process.The Security Council made a statement to thesame effect. The President ran unopposed at theend of the month, gaining nearly 92% of votes cast.Although t<strong>here</strong> were violent incidents around thepresidential poll, they did not escalate as severely assome analysts feared. In August, dissatisfied membersof the FNL voted Agathon Rwasa out of officeas party leader.BINUB thus continues to face a troubled politicalclimate, in which a consensual political process isnot yet secure. The mission has also had to contendwith the managerial challenges of acting as the primaryconduit between Burundi’s government andthe Peacebuilding Commission and PeacebuildingSupport Fund (PBF), both new elements of theUN system. Two recent reviews of BINUB’s performancein this regard highlight that both BINUBand the government faced a “steep learning curve”in dealing with these new mechanisms, especially asBINUB struggled to find staff to evaluate projects. 5Nonetheless, the Peacebuilding Fund disbursed$35 million on 17 projects in Burundi betweenearly 2007 and late 2009. While it has been arguedthat some of these met short-term needs ratherthan serving long-term strategic peace consolidation,some projects clearly did help foster stabilityin difficult political times. These include initiativesto improve military morale and increase theUN Photo