The NGO Light for the World and its partners, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), recently organized a breakfast meeting in Ouagadougou to discuss the inclusion of people with disabilities in development projects. The goal is to move from pilot experiences to systematic consideration of disability in public interventions. This initiative builds on a pilot project launched in 2020 to strengthen the inclusion of people with disabilities in rural transformation.
The pilot project, called SPARK, was implemented over three years and showed promising results. According to Étienne Bagré, country director of Light for the World, the experience led to the development of innovative approaches that can be scaled up. These approaches include the "Agrilade" approach, inclusive programming sensitive to disability, the Disability Inclusion Academy, and an evaluation tool for assessing the level of inclusion in value chains.
The breakfast meeting brought together various stakeholders, including organizations representing people with disabilities, to discuss the capitalization of the pilot project's achievements and the need for greater inclusion in development policies. The participants emphasized the importance of institutional appropriation and multisectoral mobilization to ensure the sustainability of these approaches. The stakeholders also highlighted the need for concrete commitments from authorities and development partners.
For organizations representing people with disabilities, this meeting is an opportunity to voice their concerns and obtain concrete commitments from authorities and development partners. Issoufou Zoungrana, president of the advocacy committee of the Burkinabè Federation of Associations of People with Disabilities (FEBAH), emphasized that people with disabilities want to be associated with all stages of projects that concern them, from planning to evaluation.
The stakeholders are advocating for a more systematic consideration of disability in development projects, beyond social assistance. According to Eric Coulibaly, secretary general of the Ministry of Family and Solidarity, inclusion of people with disabilities is an essential requirement for sustainable development. The government has accepted to carry this advocacy forward and translate it into concrete actions with development partners.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for stakeholders to examine the possibilities of reproducing the pilot project's approaches on a larger scale. The participants discussed the need for a multisectoral approach, involving ministries responsible for solidarity, agriculture, and economy and finance. The stakeholders also emphasized the importance of mobilizing resources to support the scaling up of these approaches.
The advocacy efforts of Light for the World and its partners aim to ensure that people with disabilities are no longer left on the sidelines of development policies and initiatives. The stakeholders are committed to working together to make inclusion a reality in development projects and to promote the rights and dignity of people with disabilities in Burkina Faso.
Key points
- The pilot project showed promising results in promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in rural transformation.
- The stakeholders are advocating for a multisectoral approach to ensure the sustainability of the approaches.
- The government has accepted to carry the advocacy forward and translate it into concrete actions with development partners.
