Eulalie Nibizi (born 1960) is a

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and human rights activist. In 1991, she contributed to the establishment of Burundi's first trade union, Union des travailleurs du Burundi, and went on to found the teachers' union Syndicat des Travailleurs de l’Enseignement du Burundi. In 2015, while in Denmark, she learnt the Burundian authorities were treating her as an insurgent. Deciding it was better not to return to her home country, she has lived in exile ever since. Nibizi has since reported to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

on human rights violations in Burundi. As coordinator of the human rights organization Coalition Burundaise des Défenseurs des Droits de l’Homme, she continues to fight for progress on human rights for all Burundians.

Biography

Born in 1960 in Kiryama in the Burundian Commune of Songa, Eulalie Nibizi graduated in French language and literature. She contributed to the establishment of Burdundi's first trade union, Union des travailleurs du Burundi, in 1991, hoping to protect the interests of the teachers in the school where she worked. But at the government required all officials to become members, she soon distanced herself from the organization as she no longer believed it could act as a trade union. Instead she concentrated her efforts on the Syndicat des Travailleurs de l’Enseignement du Burundi (STEB) in her role as president. She played a particularly militant role which led to periods of imprisonment in 1997 and 2004. She was particularly successful in 2002 when the general strike provided a special agreement and financial compensation for teachers as a result of concerted pressure from the union. Re-elected as president of STEB, in June 2015 she was invited to a meeting in Denmark. After she had criticized Burundi's president

Pierre Nkurunziza Pierre Nkurunziza (18 December 19648 June 2020) was a Burundian politician who served as the ninth president of Burundi for almost 15 years from August 2005 until his death in June 2020. A member of the Hutu ethnic group, Nkurunziza taught ph ...

, she was placed on a black list of enemies of the state. She explained that she was unable to return to Burundi as she was fighting for the union's right to demonstrate. She has not returned since, spending most of her time in Rwanda and Uganda. In September 2018, at a side event in connection with a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, she reported on conditions in Burundi. The Burundi mission had formally requested that the UN should withdraw her ECOSOC badge. Nibizi recently called on exiled Burundian defenders of human rights to ensure fruitful collaboration for the future: "The members of our coalition are scattered all over the world. It is crucial to support and connect them, so that, together, we can build a better future for our country, based on foundations of peace and human rights."

References

External links

Short video presentation in French by Eulalie Nibizi from Unite for Quality Education (2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nibizi, Eulalie 1960 births Living people People from Bururi Province Burundian human rights activists Burundian trade unionists Burundian women activists Burundian schoolteachers