Incumbent President Blaise Compaoré has governed Burkina Faso since taking power following the assassination of President Thomas Sankara in 1987. He won 85 percent of the vote in the 2005 presidential election and will stand for his final re-election bid in the presidential election scheduled for November 2010. His party, the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), has dominated the government for over two decades, most recently winning 73 seats in the 111-member parliament in 2007, and currently holding nearly three quarters of the seats in local councils. In recent years, the government has taken steps to open up political space. More than 140 other parties exist in addition to the ruling party.
The country's decentralization program, which was completed in 2006, increased the number of local government communes from 49 to 359, and provided significant opportunities for greater citizen participation in politics, especially for women. Approximately 18,000 local councilors were elected to represent new and existing communes in 2006, including 6,400 women councilors.
Despite this advancement, women in Burkina Faso still face tremendous barriers to political participation. Women in Burkina Faso are the poorest and most vulnerable segment of the population. Illiteracy rates for Burkinabe women are twice as high as for men, school enrollment is one-third lower among girls compared to boys, and a larger percentage of women are infected by HIV/AIDS than men.
Current Activities
NDI has worked closely with Burkinabe democrats to support the development of the country’s nascent democratic institutions since 2001.
Women Leaders Working Toward Poverty Reduction and Democratic Governance
NDI launched a five-year program to support women leaders in March 2009 funded by the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The program aims to help Burkinabe women to lead more effectively in poverty reduction and good governance. NDI is building on the achievements of a previous three-year SIDA-funded program, which contributed to a significant increase in the number of politically active women.
Through the current SIDA-funded program, NDI assists women leaders' efforts to reduce legal and other barriers for women's participation through various initiatives. NDI supports a coalition of women's organizations monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). NDI also helps parliamentary committee members deepen their understanding of issues of importance to women, participate more meaningfully in parliamentary debates, and be better prepared to respond to the needs of constituents.
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NDI is assisting women activists, elected women officials and their male counterparts at the national and local level to enhance understanding of policy processes and leaders' ability to promote pro-poor initiatives. NDI is supporting local councilors' initiatives to incorporate women's concerns into annual local budget allocations.
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Furthermore, NDI is helping women leaders and activists increase the accountability and responsiveness of government. NDI is conducting focus group research in 21 targeted communes to identify local issues related to poor service delivery or lack of transparency, particularly as they affect women. Following this research, NDI will issue grants to local organizations working to improve service delivery and government transparency.
