Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso adopted its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2012 for the period 2013-2016. The NAP was developed by the Ministry for Women’s Promotion and the Ministry of Human Rights and Civil Promotion. The NAP does not indicate civil society involvement in its development. The NAP identifies four overarching goals: protecting and rehabilitating women and girls who have been victims from violence; integrating a gender dimension in security and defence governance; preventing violence against women and girls; and raising awareness on violence against women and girls. These goals have corresponding objectives, actions, indicators, a monitoring and evaluation framework, and an estimated budget.

Burkina Faso reported on the implementation of its NAP, as well as WPS commitments, in its national reporting for Beijing+25 and in preparation for CSW64 (2020). Specifically, the country provided the following updates (pp. 52-53):

The establishment in 2014 of a working group on women peace and security in West Africa and the Sahel section of Burkina Faso, coordinated by the Ministry in charge of women;
The establishment in 2015 of a national women’s unit of the G5 Sahel in charge of facilitating the integration and consideration of women’s specific priorities in order to contribute to the development and stability of the Sahel;
Advocacy with the authorities for the involvement of women in peacekeeping operations;
With a view to taking into account resolution 2242 of October 13, 2015 on strengthening actions in favor of the women, peace and security program, the national action plan for 2018 was reviewed.

Burkina Faso gained independence from France in 1960, after decades of colonial rule by the French empire. The country experienced four military coups (1966, 1983, 1987, and 2015) after its independence, contributing to ongoing political instability. Since 2019, the clashes between armed Islamist groups and state security forces have exacerbated insecurity for the people of Burkina Faso. Currently, over 1 million people are internally displaced, while over 2.5 million people remain in humanitarian need. Furthermore, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is contributing to the growing insecurity of women, including through an increase in gender-based violence.

In 2019, Burkina Faso was among the top 10 countries in the world with the biggest increase in their military expenditure, with a 22% increase in its military spending.

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National Action Plan (2013-2016)

English translation provided.

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CEDAW

1987

Global Gender Gap Index 2020

108 out of 153

Arms Trade Treaty Ratified

Military expenditure (2019)

$358 million USD

Explore Burkina Faso's National Action Plan

NAP Development

Civil Society has not been explicitly mentioned as being involved in the development phase. Nevertheless, one of the objectives of the NAP is to increase cooperation between government agencies and civil society.

The Ministry for Women’s Promotion, the Ministry of Human Rights and Civil Promotion were responsible for the development of this NAP. A discussion workshop was organized in order to challenge the initial drafts of the NAP and enhance its propositions.

NAP Implementation

Three organizations from civil society will be involved in the implementation phase, however, they have not been specified in the NAP.

The Ministry for Women’s Promotion will be responsible for the implementation of this NAP.

NAP Monitoring and Evaluation

Civil Society has not been explicitly mentioned as being involved in the monitoring phase.

A five-member Committee has been specifically created for monitoring the NAP. It is composed of members of the Ministry for Women’s Promotion. In addition to this Committee, the monitoring and evaluation will be run by: the National Assembly; the Prime Minister’s Cabinet; the Ministry of Defence and Veterans; the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation; the Ministry of Social Action and Solidarity as well as the Ministry of the Civil Service, Labor and Social Security.

The Burkina Faso NAP covers the period 2013-2016. The time frame is split into three periods: 2013-2014; 2014-2015; and 2015-2016. For each period, a table displays the timeframe for the implementation of each activity underlying the goal.

The NAP is structured by four goals and six objectives. The following goals are:

Protecting and rehabilitating women and girls who have been victims from violence
Integrating a gender dimension in Security and Defence governance
Preventing violence against women and girls
Raising awareness on violence against women and girls

The NAP has six objectives which are:

Ensure and promote the systematic integration of the gender dimension in the process for human rights protection, justice and security reform.
Protect women and girls against sexual and gender-based violence
Prevent violence against women and girls through women’s rights promotion, accountability and law enforcement
Achieve women’s participation at all decision-making levels
Ensure parties involved in armed conflicts put an end to all forms of sexual violence against civilians and especially against women and girls
Ensure parties involved in armed conflict immediately take action to protect civilians, and especially women and girls, against all forms of sexual violence

Each objective relies on activities. For example, the first objective of the first goal is “Enhance care processes for women and girls who have been victims of violence”. The activities for this objective include:

Creating structures in the 13 counties to support and take care of victims
Strengthening the capacity of listening centers put in place by the OSC
Informing populations and raising their awareness on the existence of support structures and shelters for women and girls who have been victims of violence
Strengthening the capacity of health workers, security staff members and justice officials to enhance care processes for women and girls who have been victims of violence
Strengthen the OSC’s ability to create shelter for women and girls who have been victims of violence

A table summarizes which indicators will be used to track the progress on implementing a specific objective (i.e. not on the activity level, which means that the monitoring process will evaluate results on an objective level).

For instance, the following indicators have been defined for the first objective:

Enhancing care processes for women and girls who have been victims of violence
Number of teams created for gathering complaints, supporting and taking care of women and girls who have been victims of sexual-based violence
Number of women and girls who have been victims of sexual-based violence that are now being taken care of
Satisfaction level of the women and girls who are being taken care of

To be noted, some indicators are not quantifiable or qualitative. For instance, with laws protecting women and girls, monitors will only check for the existence of such laws and there are no explicit criteria for assessing it.

A table summarizes who is responsible for the implementation of each objective and the results expected for each objective. The bodies who will be in charge of the implementation are: the Ministry of Women’s Promotion, Ministry of National Defence and Veterans; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation; Ministry of National Education and Literacy; Ministry of Secondary and Higher Education; Ministry of Scientific Research and Information and Ministry of Human Rights and Civic Promotion. The sources for monitoring are also detailed.

The total budget for implementing this NAP is approximately $3.6mln (mentioned in CFA francs in the report), split as following: $1.3mln in 2014, $1.2mln in 2015 and $1.1mln in 2016. For each goal, a table displays the budget allocated to the implementation of each activity underlying the goal per year.

The NAP does not address disarmament.