{"id":5989,"date":"2025-10-02T15:54:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T15:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/?p=5989"},"modified":"2025-12-12T13:59:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T13:59:24","slug":"burkina-faso-promoting-social-cohesion-in-the-face-of-population-displacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/5989\/burkina-faso-promoting-social-cohesion-in-the-face-of-population-displacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Burkina Faso \u2014 Promoting Social Cohesion in the Face of Population Displacement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Population movements linked to the security crisis in Burkina Faso can generate tensions between host communities and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Fastenaktion\u2019s partner organizations, such as the Association SOUGRI-NOOMA pour le D\u00e9veloppement des Initiatives <\/strong>F\u00e9minines (ADIF), the Union des Groupements Producteurs Agro\u00e9cologistes Kotissek\u00e9 (UGPAKS), and the Associations pour la Sauvegarde des Masques D\u00e9dougou (ASAMA), address this challenge by developing various initiatives dedicated to peace and social cohesion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land Pressure and the Promotion of Community Solidarity<\/strong>
Tensions often stem from competition over access to natural resources such as land or water. To address this, Fastenaktion\u2019s partner organizations implement diverse initiatives, such as collective fields or community grain storage based on shared labor, which help strengthen social bonds. These initiatives foster dialogue within and between communities and cultivate the idea of working together for the common good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, integrating participatory and endogenous mechanisms in community conflict management \u2014 meaning practices and solutions developed by the communities themselves and rooted in their traditions \u2014 is essential. Examples include village councils, dialogue circles, theatre, and traditional mediation, all of which play a key role. Tailored to local realities, these community mechanisms offer a more informal and flexible approach to conflict resolution. In contrast, less inclusive formats such as conferences led by external experts have proven less effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the implementation of these activities, Fastenaktion\u2019s partner organizations have faced resistance stemming from the context, social perceptions, or collective trauma. These obstacles manifest as fear or distrust, reluctance from traditional or customary leaders, and sociocultural resistance to social mixing. While natural in a context of prolonged crisis, these forms of resistance can be transformed into levers for social change through listening and the involvement of respected local figures in finding solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evaluation and Impact of Social Cohesion Activities<\/strong>
Evaluating the impact of such activities on social cohesion requires a qualitative, patient, and context-sensitive approach, as changes are often gradual, relational, and invisible in the short term. Within our projects, some impacts are already visible, such as the gradual integration of displaced women into local associations to improve access to land, and a reduction in tensions between young people of different backgrounds during football matches or cultural events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To strengthen buy-in and maximize the impact of social cohesion activities, it is crucial to involve local stakeholders from the very beginning of project design, create safe spaces for dialogue and exchange, and value endogenous mechanisms. Fastenaktion\u2019s experience shows that excessive institutionalization should be avoided to preserve the flexibility and anchorage of such activities in the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Population movements linked to the security crisis in Burkina Faso can generate tensions between host communities and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Fastenaktion\u2019s partner organizations, such as the Association SOUGRI-NOOMA pour le D\u00e9veloppement des Initiatives F\u00e9minines (ADIF), the Union des Groupements Producteurs Agro\u00e9cologistes Kotissek\u00e9 (UGPAKS), and the Associations pour la Sauvegarde des Masques D\u00e9dougou (ASAMA), address … Burkina Faso \u2014 Promoting Social Cohesion in the Face of Population Displacement<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"issue":[394],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"\u00e0 propos","author_link":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/author\/apropos\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WBFastenaktion190-600x332.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Reports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Reports<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 11 months ago","modified":"Updated 9 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on October 2, 2025","modified":"Updated on December 12, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on October 2, 2025 3:54 pm","modified":"Updated on December 12, 2025 1:59 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5989"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6673,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5989\/revisions\/6673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5989"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=5989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}