In Burkina Faso, UNICEF is on the frontline to save lives
No matter what, UNICEF staff will always go the extra mile to meet the needs of children. Here are their testimonials.
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Burkina Faso is experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. An estimated 5.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country, including 3.2 million children caught up in the conflict. More than 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to violence, 58 percent of them children.
The security situation remains very volatile with attacks by armed groups targeting civilians and defense forces, mainly in certain areas located in the North, Center-North and Sahel regions. Despite these immense challenges, particularly in certain areas where insecurity is rife, UNICEF staff are deployed across the country to provide assistance to the most vulnerable.
Here are their testimonials from Yvonne, Omar, Félicité, Hamadou and Madeleine.
Yvonne, Driver in Dori, Sahel
“My motivation comes from the fact that I am just human.”
My name is Yvonne Paré, and I have been a driver in Dori since 2013. I have been doing humanitarian work for over 10 years. My motivation comes from the fact that I am just human.
I have children but I see children who have no dad or mom and who are suffering. I have myself suffered with my children. Therefore, I love helping children. It's not always easy to go out in the field. There is insecurity, there are fears, but we keep on.
As a driver, I take program colleagues in the field to provide assistance and care for children. It comforts me.
One day, the child of one of my neighbors fell ill and the family could not afford to treat him. I gave financial support to this family for an ambulance to take the child from Dori in the northeast of Burkina Faso to the capital Ouagadougou, about 265 km away, for the child to be given medical care.
When I wake up in the morning, I tell myself that I must do everything to reach the children and give them assistance.
No matter what, I must go to the end of my efforts and transport my colleagues to where those most in need are.
Oumar, Health programme officer, Ouagadougou
“…actions we take have a profound and direct impact on the lives of the most vulnerable women and children.”
I am Oumar Tao, adolescent and youth health program officer. I have worked for UNICEF for three years. I am a United Nations Volunteer (UNV) as well as Young UNICEF.
What motivated me to become a humanitarian was the situation in my country, seriously affected by terror attacks. As a young man, I felt the need to provide support and comfort to people, the vast majority of whom are children. That's why I chose to get involved in humanitarian work.
It's not easy to always go far to help the most vulnerable. It is a daunting task. However, as soon as I remember the suffering that these populations endure, all the difficulties seem to fade away. I then feel deeply motivated, driven by an indescribable feeling, that these communities count on me. They are impatiently awaiting my arrival to remind them that they are not alone in this situation, that their suffering is known. I am this young person who comes to tell them to hold on, and that tomorrow will be better.
I remember a situation that marked me during a mission in the Centre North. We were discussing sexual and reproductive health with women and young girls who lived on an internally displaced person’s site. We sought to help them prevent infections, sexual violence and harassment, and have access to sexual health services.
At the end of our discussions, we distributed hygiene kits to the women. One of them told us that when she went to host households to do laundry and earn some money to buy hygiene kits, she was victim of harassment and even rape.
This poignant story reinforced my belief that our humanitarian work is vital. It highlighted how the actions we take have a profound and direct impact on the lives of the most vulnerable women and children. It reminded me that our commitment cannot waver, because every action we take can truly change and improve their reality.
Today, when I wake up, it is the resilient faces of children, women, adolescents and youths I met that motivate me to return to the field, to work tirelessly to lighten their burden and make their voices heard.
No matter what, my determination to support and bring about positive change in the lives of the most vulnerable remains unwavering, guided by a deep humanitarian commitment even amid the most complex challenges.
Félicité, Admin officer in Kaya, Centre North
“…in the morning, I say to myself, Félicité, …go help make them happy. And I go”
My name is Félicité Soura and I have been working in the humanitarian sector for nine years.
My role is to manage the administration and operations of the office by elaborating the necessary documents to allow colleagues go to the field. I coordinate field missions, I manage travel authorizations and the monitoring of fuel consumption and vehicle maintenance, as well as the scheduling of drivers. I also ensure the preparation of letters to send to UNICEF’s partner organisations.
My motivation comes from the fact that I want to help improve the living conditions of communities affected by conflict, but also poverty that are a source of vulnerability.
It is not always easy to go further every day to help those most in need. There is insecurity, fear, fear of being ambushed. But we hold on.
During a distribution to internally displaced persons, seeing people's faces change after receiving their share, the joy that appears on their faces, shows that our work helps people and it comforts me that what I do changes some people’s lives. There are little things we do, like giving toys to children, which we don't see as something big, but which lights up children’s faces like a ray of sunshine. And that is the best gift.
As soon as I wake up in the morning, I say to myself, Félicité, go ahead, go defend the rights of children, go help make them happy. And I go. If I know that I'm going to coordinate a mission that will make children happy, I can't wait to wake up. If I don't coordinate trips, who will be able to go to the field? It is my source of inspiration and motivation.
No matter what, I will fight for children's rights.
Hamadou, Education specialist in Dori, Sahel
“My motivation comes from the fact that my country is going through an unprecedented crisis since 2015.”
My name is Hamadou Diallo, I am an education specialist at UNICEF in the Dori office. I have about 5 years in the humanitarian world.
I was motivated to engage in humanitarian work because my country has been going through an unprecedented crisis since 2015. The region in which I serve is one of the regions with the most closed schools with around 1050 according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Education’s Technical Secretariat for Education in Emergency.
It is not always easy to go to difficult areas, insecure areas, areas with very complex access, but it is exhilarating. It is a vocation, and it is noble because I constantly assist vulnerable children, women in complex situations, an entire community that needs an urgent response because affected by the security situation.
And there are situations that we never forget. I remember well during the attack on Seytenga, an area located 40 km from Dori, where there was a tragedy and populations moved massively to Dori. We helped women and children in tears with psycho-social care for children and psychological care for women because they were traumatized. We also quickly found recreational kits for children because it is restorative, and also found some sets of “school-in-a-box” to allow children to continue their education.
My country is undergoing an unprecedented crisis. There are so many challenges. And I owe it to myself as a citizen, as a humanitarian to get involved and to be more than motivated. It is an obligation for me to go to these communities who have lost everything, to go to these children who do not have access to school, to go to these vulnerable women and men who need humanitarian assistance.
No matter what, whatever the difficulty, whatever the stakes, I am committed to remaining humanitarian because that is the meaning of my life.
Madeleine, Program specialist in Fada, East Region
“I love seeing smiles on children’s faces.”
My name is Madeleine Diessongo Zabré and I have been in the humanitarian field for 7 years.
My role is to ensure multisectoral approach in everything we do for children. I make sure to implement a data collection system to inform donors and programs. I ensure that children in areas with high security challenges have access to a minimum of care that meets their needs.
What motivated me is my desire to help meet the needs of vulnerable communities. I am also passionate about everything related to children, and I want to work to ensure that their rights are respected in the most remote and vulnerable communities.
It is not always easy to go further to help those most in need. We face many challenges in terms of humanitarian access. We would like to assist children who are in even more remote areas, but we do not have access. However, we are always thinking about strategies to reach them.
As a woman, it is even more difficult for me because we, women, can also be even more vulnerable in these areas. We also face many more challenges than men. There are socio-cultural norms and constraints that make it difficult for women to work, especially when they hold positions of responsibility, and they are young. In the East region, 60 per cent of the displaced are children and the rest are mostly women. Therefore, women need female counterparts to discuss their problems and express themselves freely, especially during evaluations.
There are also situations that I will never forget. Once, I went to conduct a needs assessment in an isolated area where minimum vital needs are lacking. Children were so happy to see people come to meet them. They asked that we bring them with us, so that they could continue their education because their peers from other cities were ahead of them while in their area, schools are closed. It moved me a lot.
When I wake up in the morning, my motivation is to uphold the rights of vulnerable children. We see many children who suffer, and we do everything to save their lives. I love seeing smiles on children’s faces.
No matter what, I will stay in the humanitarian field to be able to save even one child’s life.
