Health access rights, North Burkina Faso 21-26

The “Accès droit à la santé Nord-Burkina” project proposed by Doctors of the World (DOW) aims, as an ultimate change, to promote increased enjoyment of health rights, particularly the sexual and reproductive health rights of the women, men, girls, and boys affected by the conflicts in northern Burkina Faso. The project will be implemented for five years in the northern part of Burkina Faso.

Since 2016, Burkina Faso has been confronted with the presence of armed groups with repeated security incidents resulting in a major crisis and which has led to strong population movements within the country; especially in the Kongoussi health district, in the North-Central region of the country, which will be particularly targeted by this project. This region is also a priority for intervention because the people affected by the security crisis have significant health needs. Health risks and vulnerabilities, especially of women and girls, have increased as a result of this security instability, the increased promiscuity in assembly areas, and a breakdown in social and family ties. 

Also, since March 2020, Burkina Faso has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has officially affected 901 people to date and caused 53 deaths (WHO Africa, June 20, 2020). The project’s action will provide support in promoting infection prevention and control measures in health facilities and the community and in effectively communicating the risks. It’s action will be integrated with the project’s other activities, given that the country’s risk of various health crises is high and that response measures need to be established for COVID-19 as well as other future diseases. 

Therefore, the project proposes, on one hand, to improve access to quality essential health services that meet people’s gender-based (and age-related) needs and, on the other hand, to otherwise seek non-deterioration, an improvement in power relationships between women and men, which are currently a significant barrier to women’s access to the right to health. Working on these aspects also contributes to reducing poverty in the population, particularly for women and girls, given the impact of health on family finances. 

In this project, DOW will support the Kongoussi Health District team in implementing primary health care (PHC) as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), and include sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care – including care and support (CSP) for GBV, and the SMSP. 

On the other hand, the project aims, in its second intermediate outcome, to strengthen women’s and men’s capacities regarding the right to health, and seeks a transformation in unequal relationships through the creation of a social and community environment conducive to respecting rights.