Burundi after Live Aid

Burundi, a country which forms part of the Central African Region, has the second-largest population density in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Since independence in 1962 it has been plagued by tension between the usually-dominant Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority. The ethnic violence which sparked off in 1994 made Burundi the scene of one of Africa's most intractable conflicts.

Thirteen years of ethnically-fuelled civil war severely diminished access to social and health services. This widened poverty, increased basic societal needs, and severely damaged basic economic infrastructure, meaning that many people became subject to continuing disease, trauma and displacement. Burundi has begun to reap the dividends of a peace process, but faces the formidable tasks of reviving a shattered economy and forging national unity.

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Time Line

• 1962 Burundi gains independence from Belgium.

• 1963 Thousands of Hutus flee to Rwanda following ethnic violence.

• 1976 A bloodless coup d'etat installed Colonel Bagaza as president which led to a period of relative calm albeit with little political or religious freedom. Eight years later Bagaza's position as president was legitimised by election before he was ousted in a coup.

• 1977 Relative peace provided an opportunity for SOS Children to provide conflict orphans with family based care for orphans in an SOS Children's Village at Gitega as well as a Medical Centre and a Primary and Secondary school.
  

• 1985 SOS Children opens a second village at Bujumbura.
  

• 1988 Tutsi's massacre thousands of Hutu's.

• 1993 Civil War breaks out in Burundi, as Hutu President Ndadaye is assassinated by Tutsi rebels.  Some 300,000 die in the ensuing conflict.  SOS Children sets up an Emergency Relief Programme in Muyinga, providing a home for children orphaned by the conflict.

• 1994 Ethnic violence sparks off, making Burundi the scene of one of Africa's most intractable conflicts.

• 1996 Ex-president Buyoya seizes power.

• 1997 The temporary accommodation provided by SOS Children as part of the Emergency Relief Project is turned into the permanent Muyinga SOS Children's Village

• 2001 October - Talks brokered by South African President Nelson Mandela lead to installation of transitional government, but main Hutu rebel groups refuse to sign and fighting intensifies.

• 2003 July - Major rebel assault on Bujumbura. Some 300 rebels and 15 government soldiers are killed. Thousands flee their homes.

• 2004 UN force takes over peacekeeping duties from African Union troops.

• 2005 SOS Children's Village Rutana opens, it includes an SOS Social and Medical Centre that caters for the needs of HIV/AIDS patients among others.
  

• 2009 SOS Children open their fifth village in Cibitoke. 180,000 people in the country are living with HIV/AIDS.
  

• 2010 A widespread drought causes prices, for the little food on sale in local markets, to shoot up significantly, consequently leaving tens of thousands of Burundians to go hungry. The maternal death rate is recorded as being 800 deaths per 100,000 live births - very high and 5th worst in the world.
  

• 2012 Burundi's life expectancy at birth has risen by 3.9 years to 50.9 years from 1980 levels according to a United Nations Development Programme report.
  

• 2013 President Nkurunziza approves new media law which forbids reporting on matters that could undermine national security, public order or the economy. Critics condemn as an attack on press freedom.