Marie Louise Baricako, a women’s rights activist from Burundi, in Geneva for the Human Rights Council (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)
Michelle Langrand in Geneva Solutions of 8 October 2025, talks with Burundian women’s rights defender Marie Louise Baricako – who was In Geneva to attend the Human Rights Council. She warns that her country is sinking deeper into crisis as the region teeters on the brink, urging the international community to push for a national dialogue.
Marie Louise Baricako recalls the Arusha negotiations with a mixture of pride and sorrow. In the late 1990s, she pushed for women to have a seat at the table in the talks aimed at ending Burundi’s inter-ethic civil war – and yet, 25 years on, much of the agreement’s promises remain unfulfilled.
“If women are left out, Burundi will keep losing,” she says. “How can you hope to develop when 52 per cent of your population are left aside?”
Baricako has spent a lifetime trying to empower that 52 per cent. In 1988, she became the first Burundian woman to earn a PhD, studying in Cameroon, and later led the English department at the University of Burundi. Born in Muramvya province, she spent much of her adult life abroad, including in The Gambia, where she joined Femme Africa Solidarité, a feminist network founded in Geneva in 1996 to promote female leadership in peace, security and development……
Fortuné Gaetan Zongo, UN special rapporteur on Burundi since 2021, warns of a “real risk” of regional destabilisation. “If Kinshasa were to fall, Burundi would be deeply affected,” he tells Geneva Solutions. Some 78,000 Congolese refugees fleeing the violence have crossed into Burundi since the beginning of the year, raising questions about how Burundi, already struggling, can cope with their humanitarian needs while the UN aid system is strapped for cash.
Baricako sees how ethnic narratives continue to be exploited by those in power. “This is what our leaders today are nourishing, because in their mind, Tutsi had kept power for so long alone, excluding Hutus. Now, they say ‘we have taken it, we shall not release it, until Jesus comes back’,” she says.
Yet repression is not limited to a group. “When women or human rights defenders dare to speak out on any violation, the next day, either they are in prison or they are killed,” she says…
Despite the bleak prospects, Baricako places hope in ordinary Burundians. “They have had time to believe in these stories of Hutus or Tutsi being the enemy. Now I believe people have realised that it is not about the ethnic group,” she says. “Burundians want a peaceful country, and they are ready to work as hard as they can to rebuild Burundi.”
Baricako stresses that talks would lead to more unfulfilled promises without the participation of those in power. She calls on the African Union and the East African Community to step out of their indifference and pressure Burundi to the table.
Zongo, who has been met with the government’s outright refusal to cooperate with him and other human rights experts, also notes that certain states with good relations with Burundi, like Tanzania, DRC and Cameroon, “can convince Burundi to sit at the table and engage in cooperation.”
For all the setbacks, Baricako remains steadfast. “The support of civil society has been essential in staying strong and not abandoning the fight,” she says. “Peace is our business, whether they want it or not. I will not go to the battlefield with a weapon, but what I have in my heart, I will use it to stand for peace and security of Burundians.”
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