Ouagadougou, In the difficult security context in Burkina Faso, “girls’ education will remain our locomotive and our fight” affirmed Tuesday, the representative of the minister in charge of national education Yvette Dembélé.
Ms. Dembélé noted that with the security crisis and its impact on the education system, girl students are increasingly exposed to early and forced marriage, unwanted pregnancies, and difficulties in managing menstrual hygiene in the regions. most affected by the crisis.
However, she reassured that ” the education of girls will remain (the) locomotive and (the) fight (of her department) whatever the favorable or unfavorable context which might come to be imposed (in Burkina Faso)”.
Ms. Dembélé represented Minister Stanislas Ouaro in Ouagadougou on Tuesday at the closing ceremony of the national advocacy workshop in favor of access to and retention of girls in education in at-risk areas in Burkina Faso.
A workshop organized by the Pananetugri Initiative for the Well-being of Women (IPBF) and Plan international.
She indicated that gender-based violence, gender discrimination, harassment, assault and rape are by-products of insecurity.
“In this context, the increase in repetitions, dropouts and failure at school are felt even more among the girls affected by the unprecedented crisis we are experiencing”, she regretted.
This is why, according to her, the action of IPBF and Plan International takes on its meaning and challenges.
These actions “challenge us on the necessary issue of gender in the use of data and evidence by institutions and systems in charge of education”, she argued.
According to the resident representative of Plan international Burkina, Yaouba Kaigama, “a girl deprived of school is three times more likely to be married before she is 18, and to become a mother too young”.
Therefore, “girls’ education is the precursor to lasting change,” he added.
Created in 2011, the Pananetugri Initiative for the Well-being of Women aims to promote the rights, development and full development of young girls and young women in French-speaking West African countries.
Source: Burkina Information Agency