Burundi: transformative masculinity in a tolerant society

Those who pursue gender equality must also break through entrenched ideas around toxic masculinity: dominance, aggression and so on. In Burundi, among other places, Belgium is successfully challenging stereotypes. Women are getting more recognition, ex-combatants better understand where their violent behaviour comes from…

Gender equality and women's rights are central to Belgian domestic and foreign policy. The Belgian Development Cooperation – largely managed by our Directorate General for Development Cooperation – also pays close attention to gender in all its interventions. Hence, gender is a cross-cutting priority during the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU.

For example, the Belgian Development Cooperation is supporting projects on the sexual and reproductive health rights of women, the battle against sexual and gender-based violence, equal access of girls to education, promotion of female entrepreneurship and so on.
 

Ingrained ideas

But in all this focus on women, we must not lose sight of the fact that men also play an extremely important role in gender issues. For it is often ingrained ideas around masculinity that are at the root of the problems women face.

Too often, masculinity is still synonymous with being strong and fearless, using reason over emotions, being economically successful, being actively heterosexual, etc. In many cultures, virility is associated with aggression, dominance, courage, independence and so on. In turn, the stereotypical woman is docile, dependent and weak.

Such a one-sided view of masculinity (and femininity) can become extremely negative or toxic. Women – as well as men who do not identify with that vision – are pushed into a subservient position, cannot develop and experience discrimination.
 

Militarised masculinity

In conflict areas, a 'militarised manhood or masculinity' comes on top of that. In such contexts, masculinity is linked to military combat as well as use of violence and oppression to resolve conflicts. The man as a brave protector who uses force against the 'enemy' brings with it a certain status, which attracts new recruits. Female warriors are also adopting that discourse.

If we really want to make progress in gender equality, 'toxic (or negative) masculinity' must also be addressed. Masculinity really does not have to go with dominance and aggression. There is no contradiction between 'being a real man' and being empathetic, caring, cooperative, treating each other as equals and resolving conflicts without violence.
 

Twuzuzanye: Let's Build Each Other, Together

This is why the Belgian Development Cooperation is supporting a number of projects that seek to transform 'toxic masculinity' into 'transformative masculinity'. A great example is 'Twuzuzanye: Let's Build Each Other, Together', implemented by the Dutch NGO Impunity Watch in collaboration with some local NGOs in Burundi.

The Central African country can still be considered a post-conflict society. Ex-combatants there are mostly left to their own devices. Moreover, the political context in Burundi is characterised by intolerance. This is especially evident between members of the various political parties, especially their youth associations. Also, women are underemployed in the dominant patriarchal culture. Especially in light of the 2025 elections, it is important to work around tolerance in the country.

Promotion of transformative masculinity

Through the Twuzuzanye project, Impunity Watch has made strong efforts to promote transformative masculinity, especially among young people. For example, it distributed a guide on formations around transformative masculinity at a number of NGOs and youth centres. Some awareness caravans were also set up. In addition, ten NGOs were trained who, in turn, engaged in discussions with young people on the topic. Four youth centres were also assisted in engaging young people in debates around violent masculinity.

Of course, the dominant one-sided image of masculinity cannot be broken in the blink of an eye, but at the very least, through NGOs and youth centres, some new concepts around transformative masculinity have been introduced – previously, there were not even any words for this in Kirundi, Burundi's language – and transformative masculinity will be promoted more in Burundian society. It also became clear that women should not be forgotten. They often reinforce toxic masculinity through the upbringing of their children.
 

Psychosocial support for ex-combatants

One hundred young ex-combatants received training around democracy and human rights, with a focus on women's political representation and the deconstruction of 'militarised masculinity'. They also enjoyed support from Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services. This allowed them to put their traumatising experiences into words and approach their past in a constructive way.

'It was the first time since my return to civilian life that I was able to share my painful past,' an anonymous participant testified. 'I was strongly affected by the traumatic experiences I had at the front and didn't want to talk to anyone about it. What I just shared, I never even told my wife.'

Another male participant told how his aggressiveness had decreased thanks to therapy. 'Before, I was a hateful, closed and violent person. I didn't want to communicate with anyone. And if someone did something to me, I didn't hesitate to take brutal revenge. The psychosocial support made me feel less and less violent. I now avoid confrontation with people with whom I disagree.'

A female ex-combatant, in turn, said afterwards that she is only now realising that her violent and furious behaviour – including towards her son – is related to her past as a combatant and that she deeply regrets it.

Psychosocial support has clearly had its impact. The participants committed to dealing with disagreements in a more constructive way. This not only helps the individual, but also an entire community by preventing violence and conflict.
 

Supporting leading women

Even in this project focusing on masculinity, the women themselves were not forgotten. The main intention was to involve more women in the reconstruction of post-conflict society. This allowed 68 leading women to better develop their leadership skills. They organised 16 community forums where they made their voices heard.

'I'm proud that I'm now recognised by the local administration after we organised a community forum to which we invited local officials,' one of the leading women told. 'They now approach me to know my opinion on numerous issues, not only related to women but even security issues. This shows that our leadership is now being truly recognised.'

A campaign – both online and via radio – actively sought to debunk clichés surrounding Burundian women. As such, it highlighted some relatively unknown women who have played a major role in Burundian history, alongside leading women at both a local and national level. The campaign also gave a voice to men and women challenging traditional leadership in the patriarchal system.

All these activities have undeniably produced their results. They laid the seeds for a gradual realisation that men can be equally empathetic and caring and women powerful leaders. This is paving the way to gender-equal, tolerant societies in which each individual can be themselves unhindered.