Biography

Guillaume Ndayikengurutse holds a doctorate in political and social sciences from the University of Namur in Belgium, and is a professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Burundi. He teaches courses in political science and international relations, as well as courses on issues of peace, security and democracy in post-conflict contexts, and courses focusing on national gender policies in Africa. His research generally focuses on peace-building and democratisation in post-conflict areas, with particular attention to the strategic population groups of women and young people. He is particularly interested in the work of civil society in the peace-building and democratisation process in Burundi. Over the past ten years, Guillaume Ndayikengurutse has also carried out a series of consultancy assignments for local and international players involved in peace-building and conflict prevention in Burundi. His work with local and international peace-building networks has enabled him to acquire in-depth knowledge of the Burundian political context and the various sections of the population, including women and young people. His work in the field led him to meet with a variety of players from political parties, civil society and other fields, and enabled him to understand the complexity of the peace-building process in Burundi in terms of the singularity of the contextual realities and the quality of the responses that the various local and international players are trying to provide. He has also taken part in strategic reflection work for international players wishing to increase the effectiveness of their interventions in Burundi. He has also been part of the teams responsible for conducting evaluations of governance and peace-building projects run by international players.