Tenkodogo: The Secretary General of Boulgou Province, Lalle Siaka Yao, closed on Thursday in Tenkodogo, the regional workshop to revitalize the consultation frameworks of actors involved in the prevention of radicalization and the fight against violent extremism (PREV).
According to Burkina Information Agency, over three days, around forty participants from state structures, civil society, youth and women’s organizations, customary and religious authorities, as well as local media took part in the discussions. The workshop was part of the “Strengthening Security Sector Accountability” program (2023-2027), implemented by the Center for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), with the support of Swiss Cooperation.
Participants received training on community mobilization against violent extremism, prevention of risks related to improvised explosive devices, nonviolent communication, and the gender and violent extremism approach. Led by the Directorate for the Prevention of Radicalization and the Fight against Viole
nt Extremism (DPREV), these modules helped strengthen the capacities of members of the regional framework, with a view to better synergy of action on the ground.
Welcoming the initiative, the Director General of Religious, Customary and Traditional Affairs, Hadja Mariam Sanogho, recalled that the establishment of regional consultation frameworks aims to mobilize all the active forces – state structures, women, young people, religious leaders, and traditional authorities – in order to support the State and the army in preventing radicalization. “At the end of this workshop, we expect stakeholders to engage in concrete actions, to revitalize existing frameworks and to carry out awareness-raising and prevention activities on the ground,” she said.
For his part, the Secretary General of the Province, Lalle Siaka Yao, praised the quality of the contributions and the spirit of collaboration that characterized the work. “We have built bridges between actors from diverse backgrounds, but driven by the same desire:
to contribute to a safer Burkina Faso resolutely turned towards peace,” he said.
The participants, for their part, insisted on the need to regularly run the regional consultation framework, in order to make it a lever for permanent dialogue between security forces and populations. The Secretary General expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Mobility, the DGARCT, the trainers, and the DCAF for their technical and financial support.
At the end of the meeting, participants left better equipped to contribute to the implementation of the National Strategy for the Prevention and Combating of Radicalization and Violent Extremism (2021-2025). The success of this initiative, already tested in the Centre-East (Nakambe) and the East (Goulmou), opens the way to its gradual extension to all regions of Burkina Faso.