National Democratic Institute Burkina Faso: Paving the way to democratic success

Key Results Objective 1: Burkinabe civil society promotes democratic processes and accountability Intermediate Result 1.1: CSOs capacity is strengthened to support democratic processes Activity 1.1.1: Capacitybuilding on government action monitoring and Activity 1.1.2: Capacitybuilding on legislative processes monitoring and oversight From March 16 to May 12, 2024, NDI organized four twoday capacity building sessions on government action and legislative processes monitoring and oversight. Two sessions were held in Ouagadougou and one session was held in both Tenkodogo and Bobo Dioulasso. A total of 116 participants from 67 civil society organizations (CSOs) attended the sessions, including 54 women (45 percent). During the session, participants learned to identify and advocate for political issues and create an action plan to address these issues. Participants also learned about the legal mechanisms that exist in order to draft, ratify, and enforce laws. On August 4, NDI organized an orientation session for members of the national governance reform monitoring committee to provide them with technical support by helping members identify their needs and develop working methods. Participants reviewed and discussed reforms under axes 2 and 3 of the action plan for stabilization and development (plan daction pour la stabilisation et le développement PASD) and selected four reforms that participants were most comfortable working on, based on their skills and knowledge. The following reforms were selected: 1. The shrinking civic space for civil society organizations and political parties 2. The adoption of a new constitution 3. Electoral code reforms 4. Territorial collectivities code reforms. Intermediate Result 1.2: CSOs contribute to advancing reforms Activity 1.2.3: Citizen priority discussions On July 4, NDI, in collaboration with the Center for Democratic Governance (Centre pour la gouvernance démocratique CGD), Diakonia, and the Protection of Civilians (PAX) organized an informal exchange session with 108 participants, including 35 women, on Burkina Faso's sociopolitical and security context, to discuss the challenges they face as a result of the security context as well as the transition. At the onset of the activity, participants took stock of the current sociopolitical context. Participants assessed the progress that the transition has made and discussed the prioritization of the security context over its two other engagements, which are to respond to the humanitarian crisis and organize timely elections. Participants also noted that the prioritization of the security context prompted disagreements among the population. Additionally, discussion facilitators worked with participants to assess the status of democratic liberties within Burkina Faso amidst the ongoing transitional period. Drawing parallels between the current transition and the one in 2014, they underscored the nuanced differences in contextual dynamics. Notably, they observed that civic space was not as restricted in 2014 and that the transition did not consolidate its powers around the security situation, which currently serves as a pretext to undermine freedoms. Participants and facilitators both highlighted the transition governments prioritization of security imperatives over human rights considerations, resulting in a curtailment of freedoms, including the right to peaceful assembly and expression. NDI opened up discussion on reform opportunities, where participants highlighted that some uncertainties persist due to the lack of a clear roadmap for upcoming elections and ambiguity surrounding the conclusion of the transition. Participants also stated that reforms should also be inclusive of political parties and recommended creating a recommendations document to inform ongoing reforms. On July 7, 2024, NDI organized a dialogue session with 12 CSOs who work on human rights, democracy and governance, to continue discussing the sociopolitical and security context. Participants discussed the importance of an inclusive transition process and the need to facilitate the participation of other stakeholders at the regional and local level in order to ensure a sustainable post transition framework. Participants also discussed ways they could continue monitoring reforms and alerting each other on critical issues. Additionally, participants discussed the closing civic space and recommended organizing regular informal dialogue sessions to continue monitoring and brainstorming on how they can contribute to the transition process. Objective 2: Informed and organized citizens participate in political and democratic processes. Intermediate Result 2.1: Citizens acquire an enhanced understanding of democratic processes Activity 2.1.1 : Selection and training of civic education trainers In order to enhance citizens understanding of democratic processes, NDI is collaborating with 3 regional CSOs on a national civic education campaign (described below). As such, NDI partnered with Tin Tua, the Group for Studies and Research on Democracy and Economic and Social Development (Groupe détudes et de recherche sur la démocratie et le développement économique et social GERDDES) and The Catholic Organization for Development and Solidarity (Organisation catholique pour le développement et la solidarité OCADES) to select and train 72 civic education trainers across the three project zones, with six trainers per municipality for the 12 municipalities. NDI organized two training sessions in Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso from August 7 to 9th, 2023, and August 17 to 19, 2023, respectively. At the onset of the training sessions in Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso, NDI provided participants with a quick refresher on the roles and structure of the branches of government. Following the presentation, participants broke into working groups to delve deeper into the organization of the different branches of the Burkinabè government, the separation of powers, and governmental institutions. Participants also discussed the concept of democracy, as well as democratic values and principles, the rule of law. NDI also built the capacities of the trainers on techniques to promote democratic values and how to tailor their training to their audience. Intermediate Result 2.3: CSOs mitigate the impact of disinformation Activity 2.3.1: Info/integrity Building Democratic Technology Norms with CSOs In July, NDI organized a dialogue and consultation session on information integrity with 14 CSOs in order to understand the sources of disinformation and how to address it. Participants took stock of the information environment in Burkina and presented their different approaches to ensure information integrity and counter misinformation. NDI also invited the Superior Council of Communication (Conseil supérieur de la communication CSC), the Central Cybercrime Squad (La brigade centrale de lutte contre la cybercriminalité BCLC) and the Data Protection Authority (la Commission de l'Informatique et des Libertés CIL) to share their experiences with CSOs. NDI organized a presentation on the role and responsibilities of CSOs in the information environment in Burkina. On November 16, 2023, NDI organized a capacity building workshop in Bobo-Dioulasso for youth on information integrity within the context of the transition. A total of 25 participants, including 11 young women, took part in the workshop. At the onset of the activity, participants shared their social media practices, as well as how they consume and use information. Following the exchange sessions, NDI worked with participants to identify and highlight best practices, as well a practices that should be avoided. In light of the information environment in the country, participants agreed that efforts should be made to minimize online risk to youth wherever possible. Objective 3: Political parties adopt reforms for better inclusivity and responsiveness to citizens priorities. Intermediate Result 3.1: Strengthened political parties internal and external communication Activity 3.1.2: Support for local and national interparty dialogue committees From June 15 to 16, 2023, NDI convened a workshop involving members of political parties who are part of the InterParty Dialogue Committee (Cadre de dialogue interpartis CDIP) from June 15 to 16, 2023. This workshop aimed to facilitate the engagement of political party leaders with civil society stakeholders in light of the ban on political party activities and incorporate them into public debates on transitional reforms. During the workshop, participants identified both the challenges and opportunities associated with transitional political processes and engaged in discussions regarding the imperative for reforms.

The overall goal of the project is to contribute of building democratic resilience during and beyond the transition in Burkina Faso, NDI will work with civil society to provide technical assistance to democratic processes throughout the transition period leading up to the return to constitutional order and the organization of elections. Following the elections, if applicable, NDI would continue supporting key democracy stakeholders, including capacity-building for the newly elected National Assembly. NDI proposes a program with the following objectives: 1. Burkinabe civil society promotes democratic processes and accountability. 2. Informed and organized citizens participate in political and democratic processes. 3. Political parties adopt reforms for better inclusivity and responsiveness to citizens priorities.