Inades-Formation Burkina has been supporting the decentralization process in Burkina Faso for nearly 15 years through the implementation of development projects.
Thus, in 2003-2004, Inades-Formation Burkina, with the financial support of the NGO/Diakonia, implemented the « project to strengthen the civil society’s capacities for participatory democracy in the municipalities of Banfora and Niangoloko ». The pilot project involved 33 civil society organizations and local elected officials from the municipalities of Banfora and Niangoloko. These civil society organizations included development associations, trade unions and human rights movements, socio-professional associations and religious communities. The main objective of the project was to « strengthen the technical, organizational and policy capacities of civil society organizations to enhance their participation in local governance. The capitalization of the project has led to results and changes in the functioning of the CSOs involved, in the relationships between CSOs and between CSOs and municipal authorities, and in governance.
From 2005 to 2006, Inades-Formation Burkina implemented a project similar to the one in 2003-2004, with the support of the Fund for Support to the Rule of Law/EU. This project, known as the « Capacity building program for local elected representatives and civil society organizations for participatory democracy in the municipalities of Boromo, Nouna and Dédougou », involved some 50 civil society organizations and 3 municipal councils. Among other objectives, this project aimed at educating people on democracy, helping them to become better acquainted with their rights and duties as citizens and to participate actively, consciously and voluntarily in the management of their municipalities. The project was capitalized in 2006 in the form of a booklet entitled « Decentralization in Burkina Faso, a fertile field for development: CSOs and local elected officials from Boromo, Dédougou and Nouna to the conquest of participatory citizenship ».
From 2011 to 2012, Inades-Formation Burkina implemented the « Project for strengthening citizen participation for sustainable local development » in 4 regions (Center, Center-North, Center-South and Central Plateau) with funding from PROS/EU. The overall objective of this project was to enable citizens to improve their participation in the development of their localities. It also aimed at enabling civil society organizations to better understand their roles in the development of their municipalities and regions. This project deeply changed youth associations, women’s associations, print media, community radio stations and human rights associations. The project was capitalized in 2012 in the form of a booklet entitled « Civil society and citizen participation: the struggle of civil society organizations in four regions « .
From 2011 to 2013, the Project to support local governance and food sovereignty in the Boucle du Mouhoun, Center North and Sahel regions was implemented by Inades Formation Burkina, financed by the Belgian NGO Broederlijk Delen. A key focus of this project was decentralization and local governance, which targeted civil society actors and municipal and regional councilors. It was implemented in 9 territorial governments, including 6 municipalities and 3 regional administrative centers (Center North, Boucle du Mouhoun). Its objective was to contribute to the improvement of local governance in the involved territorial governments through greater accountability of the authorities to citizens on the one hand, and on the other hand, greater participation of civil society organizations in the management of local public affairs.
From 2013 to 2017, Inades-Formation implemented, with the support of the PACT/World Bank, « The project to strengthen citizen participation in the Central Plateau region ». This project covered the 20 municipalities in the Central Plateau region and involved all development actors in the municipality and more specifically grassroots organizations such as the pupils’ parents’ associations (APE), the associations of mother educators (AME), the management committees (COGES) for health and education, the associations of water users (AUE) and local elected representatives. The overall objective of this project was to strengthen the management systems of territorial governments in order to improve the delivery of basic social services in the municipalities of the region and improve citizen participation in decision-making at local level. The specific objective was: « Territorial governments are more efficient thanks to better community supervision and the populations are actively involved in local decision-making « .
From 2014 to 2016, together with the Belgian partner Broederlijk Delen, Inades Formation Burkina implemented the project to support food sovereignty, local governance and the sustainable management of natural resources in the northern region of Burkina Faso. Subdivided into four focus areas, area 4, called « Policy influence and decentralization « , aims to change the strong and autonomous rural world organizations that succeed in influencing public actions and policies in defense of the rights and interests of rural populations. The direct stakeholders involved in this project were civil society organizations and local elected officials.
From 2017 onwards, this project went through its second phase of implementation for a period of 5 years. The influence of policies and decentralization focus of these two phases are implemented in 13 rural and urban municipalities of the Northern region.
