Burkina Faso has been facing violence from terrorist groups since 2015, which causes many internal displacements, among other serious problems. Children and women are the most affected populations and often have their rights violated and suffer sexual and gender-based violence.
UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) emphasizes the importance of addressing the needs of women and girls who are victims of violence, ensuring women’s participation in decision-making processes, especially in areas at risk or affected by conflict, in addition to empowering women and girls and promoting gender equality to achieve lasting peace. However, this does not happen in practice in Burkina Faso.
For this reason, the Pananetugri Initiative for the Wellbeing of Women (IPBF), in collaboration with the Collective of Feminists of Burkina Faso, organized last March the 1st edition of the Feminist Festival, with the theme “Feminism, Peace and Security”. Leaders of associations and researchers were invited to speak about the situation in the region.
Among them was Saoudata Aboubacrine, from the Tin Hinan association, a member organization of the Feminist Land Platform (FLP). Saoudata shared her experiences with her peers and urged decision-makers, both nationally and internationally, to apply the texts they adopt, such as the UN resolution cited above.
She also addressed girls and women, urging them to continue promoting spaces for sharing experiences, intergenerational exchanges, and discussions like this one. “(…) As long as women do not have a voice, nothing can change, and to have a voice, we need active movements, that are more than just a name”, she said.
Saoudata’s participation in this important event was the subject of an article published on the website Féminin Actu. Read the full text (in French) here.
