Context

There is a rise in insecurity in Burkina Faso characterized by persistent terrorist attacks, cross-border crime, community conflicts and armed robberies that threaten the country's stability and development. This insecurity causes, above all, numerous losses of human lives and displacements of populations. As of December, 31st 2020 (1), the country recorded 1,074,993 internally displaced persons, more than 80% of whom are women and children.

Because of the insecurity, most medical facilities in the Sahel, Centre-Nord and Nord regions have closed or are struggling to function. This situation increases the vulnerability of women of childbearing age, especially pregnant women who give birth at home in sanitary conditions conducive to infection, without assistance or in the hands of unqualified personnel, as well as children who no longer have access to routine vaccination services in some areas. In addition to these problems, access to safe drinking water is a vital issue in the main areas hosting IDPs. 

(1) Statistical Yearbook 2019-2020 - MENA-PLN

 

Supported Project

In 2020-2021, the Foundation will support the emergency project of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) which aims to meet the primary needs of populations displaced by conflict in Burkina Faso.

Within the framework of this project, MSF provides, among other things, medical care to displaced and local women in the northern region of the country, particularly in the provinces of Loroum and Yatenga, areas heavily affected by internal displacement. MSF provides general medical consultations, prenatal and post-natal consultations, delivery care and psychological support to more than 6,000 vulnerable women. MSF works with the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health and coordinates its activities with other humanitarian actors in the area to cover the basic needs of the displaced and host populations. MSF also provides child health care, for example, by monitoring malnutrition in children. To provide this care, MSF teams are present in the Titao health centre (Loroum province) and have set up mobile clinics to ensure access to basic care in remote areas and villages.

In addition to health care, MSF distributes hygiene products and ensures a supply of drinking water to the population thanks to the wells rehabilitated and built in the towns.

Some Figures

Budget 100,000 euros

Results 6,067 supported women

Testimonies

"We have nothing left, since we fled the conflict. We don’t even have money to pay for treatment."

Zallé Ramata, a woman who settled in the village of Sirfou, in the northern region of Burkina Faso.

Thanks to the mobile teams of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) working in the areas around the city of Titao, Zallé's two sick sons have received medical care. The North region hosts more than 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have fled the recurring violence in this part of the country.

Testimony

"The mobile clinic activity is a short-term solution that we launched at the beginning of the year to meet the needs of newly displaced people."

Dr. Diallo Alpha Amadou, Médecins Sans Frontières medical coordinator in Burkina Faso.

Indeed, most of the displaced have no means of transportation or money to get to the few opened health centers, the others are closed or not operating at full capacity due to the conflict.

Testimony 2

Photos Credit: Noelie Sawadogo/MSF