Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso we work with partners to:
- empower older women to realise their rights and access benefits
- provide emotional support to women living in refuges as a result of witchcraft accusations
- advocate for better laws to protect marginalised women.
We do this in a range of ways. For example in Ouagadougou and Yako, we provide emotional support and improved water and sanitation facilities to socially excluded women living in refuge centres.
And in Arbolle and Thema Bokin in Passore province, we run a rights programme in 14 villages.
The difference we made in 2009-10
- 60 paralegals have helped community members access benefits and services.
- 100 women accused of witchcraft and girls who are victims of forced marriage have received emotional support. Nine older women accused of witchcraft have been reintegrated into their families.
- 240 people have undergone literacy training.
- The Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity, the police and refuge centres will now collect data on human rights violations of women.
What next?
- Through our partner, Promo-Femmes Development Solidarite (PFDS), we are going to try and influence a national government bill, which is being drafted in November, to stop witchcraft accusations.
Our partners
Promo-Femmes Development Solidarite (PFDS), Burkina Faso Red Cross, Association de la Promotion de la Femme et de l'Enfant (APF), TOCSIN