Burkina Faso News

Celebrating 2013 International Women's Day Around the World

Sara Wilson — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:39:45 +0000

Each year, The Hunger Project joins billions of people around the world in celebrating International Women's Day (IWD) to honor and raise a voice for women around the world. Particularly relevant given recent violent acts against women, this year's IWD theme was “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women.” On March 8, 2013, thousands of women and men partnered with The Hunger Project around the world to advocate for equality, prosperity and empowerment for all women – see how.

Each year, The Hunger Project joins billions of people around the world in celebrating International Women's Day (IWD) to honor and raise a voice for women around the world. Particularly relevant given recent violent acts against women, this year's IWD theme was “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women.” On March 8, 2013, thousands of women and men partnered with The Hunger Project around the world to advocate for equality, prosperity and empowerment for all women. Here we highlight some of the most powerful demostrations as reported by our global partners.

PROGRAM COUNTRIES

Bangladesh

THP-Bangladesh and the Girl Child Forum jointly observed International Women Day 2013 at more than 400 places throughout Bangladesh. The central event was organized in Dhaka and was followed by a huge rally (pictured above), discussion meeting and award giving ceremony. The rally was opened by Meher Afroj Chumki, Member of Parliament (M.P.) and President of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Ministry of Women and Child Affairs. Nearly 1,000 women, men and children representative of 35 organizations joined the rally which ran from the Teacher-Student Center of Dhaka University to the Shisu Academy (National Child Academy).

After the rally, participants joined a discussion meeting chaired by Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, Country Director and President of the Girl Child Forum. Meher Afroj Chumki M.P. was the Chief Guest. At the meeting, the Girl Child Forum presented awards to two distinguished women for their significant expertise and achievements in respective fields. The honorable awardees were Zobera Rahman Linu and Sara Afreen.

Zobera Rahman Linu is a respected public figure in Bangladesh, a Guinness World Record holder as national table tennis champion 16 times consecutively, and a former Ambassador for UNICEF. Sara Afreen is an architect and filmmaker. Amongst a handful of young upcoming Women Producers from Bangladesh, Sara is the first Bangladeshi to graduate from European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) and was awarded full scholarships from European Commission’s Media Program Fund (Media Mundus) and France’s National Center of Cinematography and the moving image (CNC). Through her passion for filmmaking she has been an avid activist by organizing programs like Hope, an open film screening program for under-privileged school kids; Filmy-Bahas, an open platform form film dialogue; Traveling Film South Asia, a documentary film festival featuring South Asian films; and Shadhinota, a film festival in the spirit of independence.

Mexico

THP-Mexico celebrated International Women's Day by organizing a dialogue among our community partners from two regions: San Luis Potosi and Chiapas.

On March 8th over 70 women from San Luis Potosi attended a dialogue on gender equality for the first time in their life. The women of the communities of Pukte and la Pimienta made several important distinctions about the importance of women in the decision making of the community, and about the value of their voice and participation.

At the end of the meeting the women were able to express that "we feel we've got rid of a weight in our hearts because we found that men and women are equal before the law and are worth the same."

In Chiapas, the women of the cooperative J'pas Joliviletik who have worked with The Hunger Project since 2009, celebrated International Women's Day with a dialogue on violence against women, inviting their husbands and children, giving them a share of the process of being empowered women leaders.

For our partners in Chiapas, it was extremely important to include their spouses and children as they strongly believe that only together can they achieve their vision of having a community free from hunger and poverty.

Peru

Tarcila Rivera Zea, president of CHIRAPAQ Centre for Indigenous Cultures of Peru, was awarded by the Ladies Committee of the Congress for her constant efforts and dedication to service for her community. The award was given to enterprising women leaders and fighters as part of the celebration of International Women's Day.

"Women have an array of functions for the good of the family, society and the interests of the nation," said Narda Eguren, president of the Committee, during a ceremony held in the auditorium of the Legislature Sánchez Carrión.

CHIRAPAQ builds the capacity of indigenous women leaders, many of whom have held public office in their communities, as well as of the regional and government organizationsactively involved in the national and international indigenous movement.

Read the full story of Tarcila's award on CHIRAPAQ's website.

Burkina Faso

At Bissiga Epicenter, women's groups, student groups and epicenter leadership gathered to honor International Women's Day with a day of bicycle races, dancing and speeches.

Check out more AMAZING photos from the day!

Ghana

THP-Ghana partnered with the National Commission for Education (NCCE) to create awareness on IWD and its relevance as this special day for women. The sensitization covered a historical background to the celebration of IWD and the adoption of March 8 as a day set aside by the UN to recognize women’s achievement, and looked back on past struggles and accomplishment as well as prospects for the future. The opportunity was used to condemn all forms of violence against women and girls, adding that there had not been any development initiative or achievement that is without the contribution of women.

THP organized a community meeting at Nsuta-Aweregya Epicenter with THP staff, Heads of Departments, Women's Empowerment Program Animators, Chiefs, Queen mothers and teachers to address young girls from Aweregya basic schools. Speakers shared about various challenges women face and discussed the opportunities available to girls to grow into women leaders in the future and to help develop their families, communities, the country and the world as a whole.

A total of 139 people, mostly girl students, participated in the day's meeting.

Download the full report of the day's speeches (pdf 664.78kb)

PARTNER COUNTRIES

The Netherlands

In The Netherlands, we had a great Ladies First week – running up to International Women's Day. Ladies First was our week-long women-focused campaign mainly organized by our volunteers and sponsors, which included a nationwide ‘women’s snack’ sale, a women’s kickboxing fundraiser event (Power Women), men offering flowers to honor strong women at a hockey match, an online and offline Candy Girl chocolate sale, a film event and discussion about strong women in India, and THP-Netherlands Country Director Evelijne Bruning speaking on women’s day on the national television's most popular day-time show for women. The campaign also featured a sponsor-designed campaign material and a sponsor-built dedicated website that featured stories of THP partners Céline from Benin and Rajwanti from India.

Sweden

In Sweden, volunteers participated in a joint event with Ladyfest and Amnesty International in Gothenburg at the Museum of world Culture. And the Malmö International Friends of the Hunger Project organized a lunch for volunteers with raffles and prizes!

Learn More

See photos from each of these fantastic events on THP's Flickr page

THP-Burkina Faso, Ministry of Health Partnership First of Its Kind in 2012

Sara Wilson — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 22:00:43 +0000

In 2012, The Hunger Project-Burkina developed a first-ever partnership with the national Ministry of Health, bringing greater partnership with medical professionals at the epicenter level. Additionally, the Microfinance Program saw the official recognition of four new rural banks and the installation of new microfinance software to improve program efficiency.

Update to the Global Board

October 2012

Over the reporting period, THP-Burkina Faso (THP-Burkina) maintained a continuous focus on ensuring the self-reliance of the health program in each of its epicenters. Building upon its exclusive use of government-run health clinics at its epicenters, THP-Burkina developed a first-ever partnership agreement with the national Ministry of Health. This allowed greater partnership with medical professionals at the epicenter level, as was practiced at Boulkon Epicenter in June 2012 (see photo). THP-Burkina continued advancing four of its 10 Phase III epicenter rural banks toward government recognition.

Accomplishments

Health & Nutrition: Following many months of negotiations, THP-Burkina concluded a partnership agreement with the country’s Ministry of Health. Epicenters work exclusively with government-run health clinics, ensuring that staffing, medical equipment and drug availability are a government responsibility. This new partnership agreement authorizes THP to implement health activities alongside health clinics anywhere in Burkina; to submit proposals to the Ministry in response to requests for proposals (RFPs); and to more easily develop partnerships with other actors working on health. The Ministry of Health has officially recognized THP’s goals in the health sector and committed to facilitating THP’s interventions by according the necessary authorizations and the technical support insofar as possible. This will be particularly relevant as THP-Burkina seeks to further integrate the 1,000 Days initiative into its regular health programming.
Microfinance Program: Documents have been drafted for the recognition of rural banks at four epicenters: Bougue, Yegueresso, Bissiga, and Sapouy. Additionally, a new microfinance software kit has been installed at two epicenters: Boulkon and Nagréongo. The software will improve the Microfinance Program’s transaction capacities and provide a motivating training experience for rural bank managers, who were trained in the use of the software and provided with a manual to accompany future use. The software is designed to enhance the epicenter and the bank’s ability to manage clients and loans.
Advocacy & Awareness: THP-Burkina has made tremendous strides in building its profile among local and international NGOs operating in Burkina. In honor of International Women’s Day in March, THP hosted a conference at Sapouy Epicenter to discuss the role of women in climate change, an issue particularly pressing to the populations of Sapouy. Beyond the well-attended turnout of epicenter partners, the event was covered in the press by multiple sources.

Download the full report (.pdf 839.96KB)

Clean Water from Epicenter Borehole Unites Community of Women

Sara Wilson — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:27:21 +0000

Rakiéta Ouédraogo, a member of Boulkon Epicenter in Burkina Faso, shares her experience of how the installation of the water borehole at the epicenter significantly changed her life.

Community Centers for Meeting Basic Needs

"My name is Rakiéta Ouédraogo and I come from Boulkon, a partner village of Boulkon Epicenter with THP-Burkina Faso. I am a housewife and my economic activity is to use the loan I received from the epicenter’s microfinance fund to make and sell fried vegetables.

Before the epicenter was created and the borehole installed, we had to walk a long way to get potable water; for some epicenter partners, this could be up to 5 or 10 kilometers away. This made us waste most of our time just walking to and from the well, without mentioning the exhaustion that prevented us from doing our chores at home. Occasionally, we just drank the water from nearby marshes and ponds, which often got those who drank it sick.

All of the women were relieved when the borehole was placed at the epicenter. Their work now takes much less time, and they can devote more time to other activities, such as literacy training or income-generating activities. Furthermore, the diseases from drinking non-potable water, which often caused stomachaches and diarrhea, have decreased. Even women from neighboring villages that still have to travel to use the borehole will come access the clean water; this socialization and solidarity around the epicenter infrastructure has led to many of the women from different villages creating close bonds."