The Amagara Yacu project, funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD, French Development Agency), has officially launched in Burundi with a ceremony that took place on May 30, 2023 in Bujumbura.

With this new project, the Mérieux Foundation is aiming to help improve the quality of primary healthcare available in Burundi and to reinforce epidemiological surveillance in the country. The project’s objectives include taking into account the gender inequalities that are hampering the right to good health and access to healthcare.

Funded by the AFD, the Amagara Yacu project has been set up for a period of three years by a consortium led by the French Red Cross, coordinated by the Burundi Red Cross, in partnership with the Mérieux Foundation and Amref Health Africa.

The Mérieux Foundation is providing its expertise in particular to the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) run by the Institute of Public Health at the Ministry of Health in Burundi. It will help the NRL to strengthen its diagnostic capacity and the quality of its organization by reinforcing skills and equipment.