Next year’s elections in Burundi, billed as a milestone on the country’s long road to sustainable peace, could trigger more conflict because of a combination of widespread illegal weapons and well-organized youth wings of political parties, according to analysts.

The security situation in Burundi improved markedly after the last rebel group in the country laid down its arms at the end of 2008, and no new conflict-induced displacement was reported in 2009. However, up to 100,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) remain in sites in northern and central Burundi.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced it will manage a $44 million fund to promote the peaceful staging of presidential, parliamentary and local elections next year in Burundi, which was been wracked by ethnically-based strife for decades. Through the fund, UNDP will assist the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) organize the polls, promote civic education about the election process, encourage media coverage and try to boost the participation of women in the elections.

More than 2,000 refugees in Burundi have rejected UN appeals to move to a new camp for fear they could be exposed to attack. The refugees, from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Banyamulenge community, are housed in a camp in Gihinga, in Burundi’s central Mwaro province. The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, and the Burundian government