The project was launched in September 2014 in Burkina Faso, in the presence of four ministries, the governor of the Central and the Sahel Regions, the Director of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Dakar, media representatives, as well as the different traditional and customary chiefs of department at the centralized and decentralized levels, have committed themselves to accompany the implementation of the project. During the launch, the Premier Minster received the UNESCO delegation headed by the Minister of National Education and Literacy.

Planned activities are being carried out in Ouagadougou and the Sahel Region in Northern Burkina Faso

The ECOWAS Reference Manuel on education for a culture of peace, human rights, citizenship, democracy and regional integration was translated into the different languages: Tamacheck, Goulmanceman, Songhraï and Fulfulbe, and will be edited in 2000 copies in addition to the versions in Dioula and Moore (500 copies per language).

Two training of trainer’s workshops were organized, firstly in Ouagadougou, from 16 to 22 December 2014, followed by a second one in Dori from 12 to 17 January 2015. These workshops were attended by around forty participants composed of locals councilors, central and local government authorities, customary chiefs, leaders of civil society organizations, journalists, and private and community radio presenters.

The training for trainers and sensitizers were well attended within the participating communities. The Emir of Djibo set himself to train 50 traditional leaders who, in turn, will increase public awareness in the communities of Northern Burkina Faso: Baraboulé, Tongomayel, Arbina and Djibo.

Furthering the implementation of the activities, regional communities and one national selection committee have been set up by the Governors of the Central and the Sahel Region in Northern Burkina Faso, in collaboration with Burkina National Commission and UNESCO Regional Office in Dakar.

The criteria for selection will be based on the impact, communication, viability and the capacity to reach the maximum of target populations, and will involve various literacy actors (presenters/facilitators/teachers of literacy class, madrasas, and non-formal schooling), journalists/community radio presenters, television, and national and international press.

The main challenges and opportunities of this joint project are to:

1. Develop a good communication and dissemination strategy in order to inform the maximum number of women, men, youth, and traditional/customary chiefs on counter-terrorism and a culture of peace and conflict management, based on the ECOWAS reference Manuel and the achievements of the training of trainer’s sessions
2. Provide a sufficient number of copies of the ECOWAS Reference Manual and make widely accessible the online self-training educational tools in local languages, ensuring wide dissemination to the populations concerned
3. Increase the number of training sessions through structuring projects with a transformation effect
4. Promote the appropriation of the project by the youth, leaders of civil society organizations, traditional/religious leaders, administrative and local authorities, and NGOs.