By Issouf KABORE, SPONG Communication and Advocacy Officer  

SPONG within the framework of the project aimed at strengthening the regional structuring of the organization, supported by Forus in collaboration with the French Development Agency, organized two training workshops for members of the coordination units of the Centre, West and North regions. These training sessions were held on the 27th and 28th of September in Koudougou and on the 18th and 19th of October in Ouahigouya, and they involved about thirty participants.  

In recent years, Burkina Faso has been facing an unprecedented crisis characterized by the spread of terrorism, the resurgence of social unrest and the increase in community conflicts.  Despite the government's efforts to overcome this scourge, the majority of Burkinabe still do not have access to a satisfactory standard of living or to fundamental economic, social and cultural rights.   

Always committed to the State, civil society organizations (CSOs) in their missions of backing up and supporting development operations have not stopped bringing in their contributions to this. The Permanent Secretariat of Non-Governmental Organizations which is the national platform of CSOs for development, is part of these CSOs.  With a vision of "a Burkina Faso where NGOs, development associations (DAs) and foundations have a voice and the capacity to participate in the realization of a just, equitable, peaceful, resilient and democratic society", SPONG, with its 259 members, is an important instrument of Burkina Faso's civil society and acts as an interface between the Burkinabe associative movement and the State, the private sector and the country's development partners.

With efficiency in mind, SPONG has been committed since 2020 to strengthening its structure and the capacities of its members, especially in the regions. Thus, 12 coordination units have been set up in the different regions of the country. The objective of these regional coordination units is to invest in regional consultation spaces in order to effectively influence local public policies or to take part in a united manner in the dialogue frameworks available to them.  

According to the deputy coordinator of SPONG, Fatmata Bancé, the current challenge following the establishment of these regional coordination units is to strengthen the capacities of their members in their various areas of intervention.  This is why the project to strengthen the regional structuring of SPONG has been thought out with the support of Forus with the objective of contributing to the achievement of the association’s objectives. Thus, in the implementation of these activities, trainings were organized for the members of the regional coordination units of the Centre-West and the North. According to the Deputy Coordinator, the main objective of these training sessions was to provide members of these regions with the necessary skills and tools to conduct advocacy, interpellation and capitalization initiatives. Held on the 27th and 28th of September 2022 in the meeting room of the Association of Widows and Orphans of Koudougou, the session in the Centre-West region brought together 16 participants from SPONG member and non-member organizations.  

For the regional coordinator of the Centre West region, Mr. KOMBASERE Jean Urbain, the two days of learning have undoubtedly contributed to strengthening the capacity of NGOs/DAs and Foundations in the region "with the skills and tools necessary for the smooth running of local initiatives". This will enable them to achieve their vision, which is that "by 2024, the Central-West Regional Coordination Unit is a credible, visible and dynamic umbrella organization that federates and strengthens the capacities of its members, in order to influence public policies for the betterment of communities".   

Vincent Siego, president of the APROCED association, is quite satisfied:  

"We do advocacy every day, but there are certain aspects that we do not understand. This training has enabled us to strengthen our capacities. As an organization, we can only encourage these kinds of initiatives that will enable us to better carry out our actions," he said. Like Mr Vincent, all the participants expressed their satisfaction at the end of the two-day training.  

After the Centre-West region, the focus was on the North with an event on October 18 and 19 2022 with the same objective: to capacitate SPONG members working in the region on advocacy techniques, capitalization and the questioning of public policies. The visibly satisfied regional coordinator intends to mobilize her peers and communities to engage in advocacy actions: 

"In the coming days, we will mobilize the communities in order to determine together the priority actions to be carried out in terms of advocacy with the authorities," said Ms Beloum Ouédraogo Cécile. For her, the initiative of SPONG to strengthen the capacities of its members on such important issues is to be welcomed because it will allow them "to give memory to the structures in their daily actions”.  

"I positively appreciate the training we received during these two days. It will enable us to carry out our advocacy activities well. We are going to take stock of those who were not able to participate so that we can harmonize our activities," explains Aichata Ouédraogo, member of the Aidons l'Afrique Ensemble asociation.  

This first phase of the project to strengthen the regional structuring of SPONG is supported by Forus, in partnership with the French Development Agency. The same training modules will be carried out in the coming days for the benefit of other regional coordination units.