Overview

Due to its geographical position, Burkina Faso is a West African crossroad between coastal countries and land-locked countries. The Government of Burkina Faso faces several challenges relating to the management of large flows of incoming and outgoing migrants including both regular and irregular migrants with concomitant challenges such as counter-trafficking, migration and development, migration and health, border management, etc.

These migration issues are addressed by IOM in close partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of the Government of Burkina Faso.

Migration and Development

From July 2005 to January 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation received funding to conduct a project entitled "Mobilizing the Diaspora of Burkina Faso and Identifying Priority Needs of Burkina Faso".

The programme "Migrant Women for Development in Africa (WMIDA)" was launched in March 2008 with the financial support of the Italian Government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in order to involve more West African migrant women living in Italy in the development of their countries of origin. The target countries are: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Senegal.

Migrant Women for Development in Africa (WMIDA). The WMIDA Project is intended to enhance the migration and development link by promoting the direct engagement of West Sub-Saharan African women in Italy and their social network in the countries of origin and destination, in order to sustain their empowerment and their participation in initiatives that foster socio-economic development and reduce poverty.

The objective is to reach, listen, and involve migrant women from Western Sub-Saharan Africa in Italy, in order to understand their possible interest in supporting the communities of origin through productive forms of investment and social projects.

Project

• Migrant Women for Development in Africa

Regulating Migration

Counter Trafficking. IOM undertakes several activities to enhance the capacity, cooperation and networking of the police, the judiciary and NGOs in the fight against human trafficking in West Africa.

Within the framework of its activities, IOM supports the Government of Burkina Faso in fighting trafficking in human beings. IOM programmes promote institutional capacity building through the training of personnel, of the relevant ministries and NGOs in Burkina Faso. These activities include the direct involvement and participation of key stakeholders in the networking and information exchange between ministries of countries in the region.

The “Regional Programme of Direct Assistance for Return and Reintegration of Trafficked Children in West Africa" aims to support the governments of Burkina Faso and other Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the fight against trafficking in persons especially women and children and to provide direct assistance for the protection and reintegration of trafficked children.

Project

• Regional Programme of Direct Assistance for Return and Reintegration of Trafficked Children in West Africa

Facilitating Migration

In Burkina Faso, IOM is developing a regional project to fight against fraudulent documents involving five West African countries (Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Gabon). It aims to strengthen the technical and operational capacities of beneficiary countries in the fight against document fraud for effective management and control of their borders.

Last updated:
Main text: November 2009
Facts and figures: August 2014

International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Ouaga 2000
Nouveau secteur 5, Zone A
Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso

Tel: +226 50 34 21 07, +226 74 77 36 57