Members of the Namentenga social cohesion cluster or group discussed on July 26, 2024 in Zorgho (Ganrourgou) the state of play of social cohesion and conflict-sensitive communication in the province of Namentenga.
The High Commissioner of the Namentenga province, Adama Conseiga, chairing the consultation framework, thanked the members for their contributions and the Project to Support Internally Displaced Persons and Strengthen the Resilience of Host Communes (PDICA) which facilitated the meeting.
Facies crime, sexual abuse, the poor condition of the entire road network in the province, the sluggishness of socio-economic activities in the resettled villages, the lack of respect for elders these are, among others, the obstacles considered detrimental to the promotion of social cohesion noted by the participants.
Faced with these challenges, the members of the cluster, namely representatives of civil society organizations, religious, customary and traditional leaders, heads of decentralized state services an
d defense and security forces have agreed to create a WhatsApp group to promote living together.
They decided to involve customary and religious leaders in the implementation of the population resettlement process, and the organization of traders’ convoys in the resettled villages.
The members also discussed the initiation of civil-military activities to facilitate integration, the denunciation of cases of abuse, and the carrying out of awareness-raising activities through interactive broadcasts.
The representative of the provincial directorate in charge of Humanitarian Action shared the difficulties that his structure encounters with humanitarian workers and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the context of the census and distribution of food and non-food items.
In their testimonies, the elders insisted on the importance of respect for elders and authority. According to them, the development of a country requires discipline and respect.
The participants discussed the theme ‘Conflict-sensitive commun
ication’ developed by the PDICA facilitator, Zoumana Traoré.
At the end of the discussions, the president of the cluster congratulated the project for its support and the participants for the results achieved.
Source: Burkina Information Agency