SOS Children in Burkina Faso
The small republic of Burkina Faso in west Africa is one of the poorest countries in the world. Fifty six per cent of the population is under 18 years old and only 25 per cent have access to portable water. Despite a recent decline in infant and under-five mortality rates, there has been an overall deterioration in children's health due to malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, and malnutrition. Widespread unemployment and poverty has further worsened the situation for women and children.
Negotiations between government and charity to build an SOS Children's community in Burkina Faso began in the 1980s, but because of political unrest it wasn't until 1997 that the first children moved into the village in the small community of Polosgo, 10 km north of the capital city, Ouagadougou.
SOS Children Ougadougou has twelve family houses which are home to 120 children. The village also has a nursery school and a primary school, both of which are open to children from the local community. A small medical centre provides treatment and first aid for both the SOS mother and child, SOS families and local people.
Burkina Faso's second SOS Children's Village at Bobo-Dioulasso, near the western border with Mali was opened in 2004. It has twelve family houses for 120 children, a three-room nursery school for 150 children, a combined primary and secondary school for 900 children and a clinic for both the local people and the SOS families.
Local Contacts
SOS Children in Burkina Faso
Villages d'Enfants SOS du Burkina Faso (associated), BP 1468, Ouagadougou 01/ Burkina Faso
Tel: +226/35 70 12
Fax: +226/35 70 12
e-mail: bnc@cenatrin.bf
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