United Nations agencies and other humanitarian organisations in Burundi have appealed for US$132 million in humanitarian aid to assist vulnerable people this year.

Launching the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) in Burundi's northwestern province of Cibitoke on Wednesday, Mahmoud Youssef, the special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Burundi, said the focus for the year would be solely on humanitarian concerns, unlike previous appeals that also included recovery from war and peace-building.

Eight UN agencies, 13 international organisations and four local NGOs participated in the 2007 appeal. The CAP is a UN-led initiative aimed at coordinating and streamlining donor aid for maximum effect.

Youssef appealed to Burundi's international and national partners to respond positively to the appeal and help mobilise the necessary funds not only to "respond to the emergency needs but also lay the foundation for food self-sufficiency".

He added: "More than $59 million of the requested amount will go to the World Food Programme [WFP] for food aid."

Food aid provided by the WFP, he said, was previously sought under the Great Lakes Region's CAP, and therefore did not feature in the CAP for Burundi. The change had led to an increase in the country's CAP budget for food aid.

The WFP representative in Burundi, Gerald van Dijk, said the agency only had funds to cover food aid from January to March, and additional funds were required as soon as possible for the second quarter.

Youssef said the three priorities set out in the 2007 CAP were: surveillance of the humanitarian situation and early warning, with particular attention to the needs of internally displaced persons and returnees; rapid response to humanitarian emergencies; and the reduction of vulnerability resulting from the lack of access to basic services. He added that these were consistent with the government's priorities.

Meanwhile, at least one million Burundians will depend on food aid in 2007, the minister for national solidarity, human rights and gender, Françoise Ngendahayo, who attended the CAP launch, said.

She said besides food aid, Burundi had other humanitarian challenges, such as assistance for at least 390,000 returnees from Tanzania and internally displaced people.

According to the CAP, 80,000 refugees are expected to return in 2007.