Promoting psychosocial support for internally displaced women in Burkina Faso

Context

Since 2018, the number of internally displaced people in Burkina Faso has been steadily rising. There are now 2.1 million internally displaced people, almost ten per cent of the population, and many of them are women and children.

They have lost family members and been exposed to traumatic experiences. Women are taking on responsibility for their families’ survival, in difficult financial conditions, and at the same time they are exposed to discriminatory gender norms and stigmatisation.

All of this leads to severe psychological stress, and 41 per cent of all internally displaced people in Burkina Faso suffer from mental health problems. State institutions are overstretched with regard to delivering services to the large number of internally displaced people.

Objective

The mental wellbeing of internally displaced women and disadvantaged women in the host communities is improved.

Approach

The project aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of internally displaced women and vulnerable members of the host communities. It focuses on several key areas:

• It is expanding and improving psychosocial support services.
• It is advising governmental social and health services and those of non-governmental organisations which offer psychosocial support to psychologically distressed women in the municipality of Fada N’Gourma.
• It is developing community-based and individual support services through direct cooperation with local organisations, such as self-help groups, mobile counselling teams and safe spaces for women.
• It is training staff to ensure high-quality psychosocial counselling.
• It offers continuing education for women to enable them to access work that will give them an income.
• It raises public awareness about the importance of mental health, in order to reduce stigmatisation and promote understanding of the needs of those affected.

Last update: December 2024