Blogging as social activism in Burundi: Brownbag lunch with the Burundian YAGA collective

Please note that more information about the outcomes of this event including a blog post will follow soon.

On Monday 25 April, RNW Media and the Platform will host a brownbag lunch on the occasion of the visit of three bloggers from the Burundian YAGA collective. This meeting aims to provide for an informal exchange regarding the situation in Burundi and on-going projects, providing for a learning and networking opportunity.

Against a backdrop of street protests, the shutdown of independent media, torture and arbitrary detentions, mass displacement, and the emergence of rebel groups, a community of young bloggers, known as YAGA, has been at work since Burundi plunged into a crisis upon the announcement of President Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term in office during Spring 2015.

In an increasingly polarized context, YAGA’s internet and social media platform has remained a key open space which allows for the sharing of strong opinions and fosters peaceful debate.

Dacia Munezero, Alain Horutanga  and Armel Gilbert Bukeyeneza will reflect on what it means to be an activist in Bujumbura today and share their sense of local realities. They will discuss the obstacles they face and the avenues they resort to in order to engage youth and promote dialogue in an environment awash with rumours, where traditional communication channels have been closed down, and space for public dialogue continues to shrink in a volatile political and security context.

You are kindly invited to participate in this conversation and to exchange views and insights on the current challenges Burundi faces, youth engagement and social media activism from your own experience on the current developments and its challenges for programming and policy.