Empowerment of Women at Rural Community Level in Burkina Faso (1999-2000)

 

Background

With a population of app. 11 million, Burkina Faso lies in the heart of Western Africa. This country is one of the Worlds five least developed countries, the illiteracy rate being 79.3% (women 90.8%), the GNP per head of 950 and a life expectancy of 46.1 years. Since 1975, the government has advocated for the improvement of women's status among others by developing a schooling plan for girls with a view to reducing gender disparities  in this field. Legislation on the person and family was revised and  the new "Code de la Personne et de la famille" of 1989  forms a basis upon which the status of women and their families may be improved.
Most recently (1998) a Ministry of Womens Affairs has been created so as to support initiatives as well as develop a coherent approach to  the status of women. The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women  has been ratified by Burkina Faso. In the light of everyday life and tasks of women, particularly in rural areas, there exists a need  to support the implementation of this Convention, particularly  article 14 which addresses the problems faced by this group of women.

Summary

Launched in August 1999, the objective of this project is to improve the status of women through a training programme on human rights and womens rights in combination with training on health and water, market and production activities as well as the creation of a herbal garden.  Carried out in Kokologho,  the combination of sensitizing women and their communities on issues related to social, economic, cultural, civil and political rights as well as  lessening  economic and social hardships, should contribute to the strengthening of the capacity of the women to carry out their responsibilities for the benefit of the community.

Partners

The Ministry of Womens Affairs is the national counterpart in Burkina Faso. DANIDA provides the funding and UNESCO provides the technical and intellectual assistance required.
The aim of this project is to provide the training needed within the framework of the UNESCO-DANIDA Progamme on Human Rights, taking into consideration the creation by other donors of  infrastructure in Kokologho. This infrastructure, a women's community centre of 4  buildings as well as 7 wells, has greatly contributed to the  possibilites of development in this area. Solar panels supply the energy for the centre, and mills and deshelling machines facilitate the production of food stuffs such as 'beurre de karité'. 

Activities

There are four training components to this project:
27 persons participate in a course Human Rights and Womens Rights;
75 persons participate in workshops on Water and Health;
35 women participate in workshops on Market Economy and Herbal Gardens are created in  several villages for the benefit of the communitie. Complementary to the creation of gardens is training in identifying and using herbs, among others to make cough potions and other household remedies. 
The participants are identified by the local women's federation Neerwaya, which has local organizations in the beneficiary villages of the project. Thus the number of participants are equally distributed among these villages and they each represent their village. The workshops with a view to the  participants disseminating this knowledge in their local communities, this means that the training material produced is aimed at a wider audience than only the participants of the workshops. All activities are based on the fact that a majority of the participants are illiterate, radio programmes will be produced, theatre should encourage debate, etc. Training is based on a participatory approach, the beneficiaires thus identify training needs and they evaluate the training, results and impacts. During the project the workshops are followed up on a regular basis so as to  strenghthen their capacity and newly acquired knowledge.  
As the beneficiaries  are mainly illiterate, the approach is interactive and the participants are mainly required  to learn by doing.

Expected Impacts

It is expected that awareness be raised among the communities of their civil rights, specifically rights  related to the Code de la Personne et de la Famille, and the links between human rights and development. As regards economic, social and cultural rights  it is envisaged that the participants and their communities become aware of  their rights and possibilities by an apporach of learning by doing. In this way, the participants and their communities should thus  learn about how to improve the use and management of water; to prevent illness by using water correctly; to improve the quality of local produce;  to facilitate socio-economic development;  how to organize themselves, identify needs and solutions as well as plan activities  for the benefit of the communities. It is envisaged that the role of women  be strengthened, as the combination of new skills and knowledge should allow them to become more active and informed citizens  at community level.

Experience

The further creation of infrastructures has been delayed somewhat, however the women's community centre in Kokologho functions and training in Human Rights and Women's Rights,  Water and Health as well as Women and Market will therefore be initiated duing the spring of 2000.
As regards the herbal garden, the communities expressed an interest in constructing gardens in several villages. This means that five gardens are under creation providing an opportunity for a greater number of persons to benefit from this activity as well as making sure that there are several sources of plants in the area, to support the maintenance of the gardens.

This page was modified on 23/03/00