June 12, 2024
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – Feminist Opportunities Now (FON), a project supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), is making strides in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV). FON is actively supporting feminist civil society organizations (CSOs) in ten countries, including Burkina Faso, where five feminist organizations are receiving crucial aid.
The five FON-supported organizations in Burkina Faso are:
These organizations benefit from flexible funding aimed at enhancing their organizational, institutional, and programmatic capacities. Beyond financial support, FON provides tailored assistance, exemplified by a visit from three FON team members from June 3rd to June 7th. The team conducted working sessions with the organizations, focusing on governance and strategic leadership, financial management, programmatic planning, monitoring, and advocacy.
“Our meetings with the CSO teams allowed us to better understand their challenges and needs,” said Alejandra of the FON team. “Working directly with the team members enabled us to offer concrete and individualized technical support, fostering the collaborative and partnership spirit of the FON project.”
Throughout the week, the FON team was supported by the Association pour le Bien-être de l’Enfant et la Femme (ABBEF), a member association of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in Burkina Faso. ABBEF also participated in the final meeting with the FON-supported CSOs.
Additionally, the FON team met with the AFD agency in Burkina Faso. This meeting facilitated the sharing of project details, progress updates, and insights about the supported organizations. The AFD agency’s knowledge of the local context and key stakeholders proved invaluable.
“This experience was enriching for all of us, We have learned a lot from the great work that CSOs do with commitment and courage ” Ibrahim of the FON team added. “We will continue our support in various ways and look forward to receive progresses about their work.”
“Issues/challenges that the organizations face in financial management are mainly: financial sustainability, compliance & accountability, capacity building and risk management”, commented Farouck, FON Finance Lead.