Giving Compass' Take:

• IRIN reports on the political instability and violence in Burundi, where citizens — who are already suffering from extreme poverty — are fleeing the country en masse.

• What can aid organizations do to address the growing crisis and help refugees find safe sanctuary? The international community needs to step up, fast.

• Here's why engagement in fragile states needs real and radical change.

Burundi isn’t at war, but it has all the humanitarian hallmarks of a country that is.

Campaigning began this week ahead of a May 17 referendum that could allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to stay in office until 2034. A government clampdown and an uptick in political violence are raising fears that the humanitarian situation will deteriorate further as civil liberties and the rule of law are eroded, prompting more people to join some 400,000 already seeking refuge in neighboring countries.

Lewis Mudge, senior researcher in the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch, said Burundians will continue to flee unless the political crisis is resolved.

“The current situation is worrying, as a lot of Burundi's problems are political at the root and at their base,” he said. “It's hard to put a timeline on it, but unless these political issues are resolved, I think it's very possible that we could see even more people fleeing the country, which would put an enormous strain on Burundi's neighbors.”

More than 3.6 million Burundians — about a quarter of the population of what is the world’s fourth poorest country — now need aid to get by, an increase of almost 20 percent over 2017, according to the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan.

Some 2.6 million people lack reliable access to food, up from 1.5 million a year ago and 700,000 in April 2016. One in six children under the age of five are affected by chronic malnutrition, a condition that stunts growth and impairs mental development.

Read the full article about the disputed referendum in Burundi by Charlie Ensor at irinnews.org.