Ouagadougou, 5 April 2022 (TDI): The Chargé d’affaires of the European Union (EU) in Burkina Faso and the Minister of Culture of Burkina Faso, Élise Foniyama launched the second program appeal for cooperation in culture. More than 100 projects will have funds thanks to the European Social Fund in the area of culture and tourism.
Later a series of animated movies focused on Burkina culture, “Malaika”; published by Pit Production and Joy of Living/BF, announced that it would have funds from the European Social Fund. The funds would be in the area of culture and tourism.
OVERVIEW OF EU – BURKINA FASO RELATIONSHIP
Burkina Faso has a good relationship with the EU. Moreover, the EU has been supporting the development of Burkina Faso with 3 cooperation priorities. The three priorities are social needs, employment issues, and justice.
From the perspective of social needs, the EU has a special focus on nutrition, resilience, agricultural issues, health, and water; with special consideration for the fragile region. To cope with employment issues, the EU allocated €45 million for youth and women in the north and the Sahel region.
The EU aimed to promote their resilience and provide employment facilitation. To support the justice sector in Burkina Faso, the EU’s actions have been under the umbrella of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF). Those actions were also under a new security/justice program foreseen in 2019.
Moreover, the EU has launched a package of projects with €623 million. The funds came from the 11th EDF National Indicative Programme which covers the 2014-2020 period. The EU has three main concerns: good governance, health, and food security including access to drinking water and sanitation.
CULTURAL COOPERATION BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES
EU and Burkina Faso have been working on promoting bilateral culture cooperation no later than the year 2018. In 2018, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker; met with the former President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. Both held a meeting in Brussels to discuss the bilateral partnership.
During that meeting, President Kaboré signed two new agreements with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and the Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica. These new financial commitments belonged to the EU’s global cooperation with Burkina Faso which represents a total of around 980 million between 2014 and 2020.
The first agreement, worth EUR 10 million, covering the period 2018-2022, focused on supporting the creative industries and governance in the field of culture in Burkina Faso. This new financial program focuses on creating jobs in several prior cultural sectors including film-making, the performing arts, artistic crafts, and applied arts.
Furthermore, with the agreement signed in 2018 ending; both appealed to launch a second one during the meeting.
 in Burkina Faso and the Minister of Culture of Burkina Faso, Élise Foniyama. Read more...){kind=link}