Our History

World Vision has been working in Burundi for more than five decades.

Our teams first began working in Burundi in 1963. Our operations stopped towards the end of the 1980s but restarted in 1993, in response to the acute humanitarian needs as a result of widespread civil unrest. In 1995, we opened our office in Bujumbura, the country’s capital.

Over the past 30 years, our work has transitioned from providing emergency relief to investing in long-term development programmes. 

Currently, our staff and programmes bring hope and help to children and communities across the country through a wide range of holistic, integrated projects. We work with those who are the most vulnerable - the poor and the oppressed - regardless of their religion, race, ethnicity or gender.

To date, we bring hope and assistance to over 1,000,000 children (of whom more than 50,000 are sponsored children) and their communities in 24 Area Development Programs (ADPs) each year. Our programmes work to ensure children and their communities have access to much-needed clean water, education, food, healthcare and the chance to live a life of fullness. 

Improving the well-being of children in Burundi is the foundation and the motivation for everything we do.