Inclusive, Sustainable, and Territorialized Resilience

Social protection

Burkina Faso

This is an activity from the project "Solution Offering for Inclusive, Sustainable, and Territorialized Resilience" implemented by a consortium of partner organizations of Enabel in Burkina Faso in 2023, as part of a "Fragility" intervention within the 2019-2023 portfolio. Its objective is "To contribute to the empowerment of women and youth through strengthening collective resilience to vulnerability factors in the Centre-East region." The target group consists of eight hundred (800) women, including 70% internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 30% from the host community.

Empowerment was designed through a cash transfer aimed at financing an income-generating activity (IGA), which each beneficiary woman had to present in the form of a business plan. The maximum amount for financing an individual business plan was one hundred thousand (100,000) CFA francs, or about 160 euros.

The project started with a study on promising sectors in each of the four target municipalities to help the beneficiary women make an informed choice on the most promising income-generating activity in each area.

In parallel to this study, we carried out the targeting of cash transfer beneficiaries, and given the sensitivity of this activity, the targeting process was widely participatory, inclusive, and transparent to avoid creating new tensions related to cash, respecting the "Do No Harm" principle.

To this end, an inclusive targeting committee was established, which identified participatory targeting criteria that were validated by the concerned parties before proceeding with the registration of potential beneficiaries of the IGA financing. The final validation of the beneficiary list was done during a community meeting to avoid duplications and remain objective with respect to the agreed-upon criteria. These beneficiaries were then grouped into Community Savings and Credit Associations (CECA), each voluntarily composed of 20 to 25 members. Each CECA met once a week at a mutually agreed-upon time between members to discuss their projects, issues, and needs. It was also during these meetings that capacity-building sessions on various topics (including protection, gender-based violence, financial management, entrepreneurship, etc.) were organized. These sessions were facilitated by business coaches and Rural Entrepreneurship Resource Centers (CREER), who are experienced entrepreneurship professionals. We signed partnerships with microfinance institutions (MFIs) in each of the project’s target municipalities, and each beneficiary opened a bank account at an MFI of her choice. The project facilitated the connection between the beneficiaries and these institutions. Subsequently, agents from these banks, in collaboration with business coaches and CREERs, participated in raising awareness among beneficiaries about banking operations, available services, credit granting, savings, etc. Moreover, an inclusive, participatory, and transparent approach that respected the dignity of each beneficiary helped create a more comfortable dynamic and fostered enthusiasm for living together. The CECA helped strengthen social cohesion between internally displaced persons and host communities, as well as solidarity based on trust and self-esteem.

Through life stories and testimonies, several women have reported improving their income thanks to the cash transfer and their business relationships with financial institutions. Covering basic needs such as food, healthcare, and children’s education is one of the clear signs of the project's success.