By Koffi Mickael YAMEOGO, project manager at the Secrétariat Permanent des ONG du Burkina Faso (SPONG), member of Forus in Burkina Faso 

Meetings of the Agriculture, Environment, Food and Nutrition Security, and the Decentralisation and Local Development focus groups were held on 25 and 26 January 2021, in order to prepare for taking part in the Sectoral Dialogue Frameworks for Agro-silvo-pastoral Production and Administrative and Local Governance respectively. 

These meetings, organised through the project to support structuring, coordinating and strengthening of the ability to influence government policies, with support from Forus, enabled SPONG members working on issues of governance and agriculture to be the voice of civil society at the Sectoral Dialogue Frameworks held in February 2021. 

As a matter of fact, Burkina Faso is a constitutional state where freedom of speech, union rights and the right to organise are guaranteed. This situation has encouraged the development of a diverse civil society at local and national level. These civil society organizations (CSOs) are relatively consulted by the State toward regulatory frameworks for participating in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national public policies. 

However, they still work in an isolated manner, often inconsistent or conflictual, which does not allow them to play a meaningful role in bringing forward ideas and opposing power. Citizen participation to dialogues, in terms of level and quality, therefore remained a challenge. 

The prior consultation that took place before these Sectoral Dialogue Frameworks allowed a break with this state of affairs with a quality participation of civil society which now positions it as a force for proposal. The contributions of these thematic groups were appreciated by the technical and financial partners as well as by different ministries. 

Therefore, this project will have allowed thematic groups supported to take up the challenge of influencing public policies.