Community Engagement – Burkina Faso, 2015

This document is intended for participants in the National Workshop on Coverage, held on December 7 and 8, 2015, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, including representatives from the Ministry of Health, donors, and local and international organizations working in the field of nutrition. Its main objective is to summarize the key points of the discussions among partners and to offer them a new perspective on the challenges and their potential solutions in implementing PCIMA programs across the country.

Implementing genuine community mobilization to improve coverage of PCIMA programs requires a reevaluation of existing strategies by both donors and field operators. The results of various coverage surveys conducted in the country underscore the urgent need for this change, since, in fact, communities feel relatively detached and unconcerned by the stated objectives of their “own” mobilization effort. The establishment of community liaisons—whose effectiveness is variable and unpredictable—has not been sufficient to make these communities feel like stakeholders in the fight against malnutrition. The coverage rates of the PCIMA programs are a telling indicator of this problem: the number of children actually receiving care falls short of expectations and the financial and human resources invested. This, in turn, has led to a loss of momentum in project implementation: healthcare and field teams share a certain lack of motivation, the allocated funds are not being used to their full potential, and local populations display a certain skepticism or even blatant disinterest in projects of which they are normally the direct beneficiaries.