🇧🇫Burkina FasoWest Africa
Digital platform Deme Sira aims for transparent social assistance in Burkina Faso
via Lefaso.net6 min read
Lieutenant-Colonel Pélagie Kaboré, Minister in charge of Solidarity, launched the digital platform Deme Sira on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Ouagadougou. The platform is designed to effectively implement the government's social protection and action policy, addressing new vulnerabilities created by sociopolitical challenges and crises. Deme Sira aims to provide rapid support to vulnerable individuals across Burkina Faso, allowing anyone with a phone to submit a request for themselves or others. Key innovations include enhanced traceability, transparency, and security in resource collection and utilization. The platform will coordinate actions among social actors and report on resource use, ensuring contributors know their donations directly help specific individuals. While not replacing existing individual solidarity efforts, Deme Sira will complement and coordinate them, bringing greater rigor and transparency. All non-contributory social protection structures within the ministry are integrated into the platform to efficiently manage cases. For specific interventions, a dedicated fund is opened, allowing contributors to track its progress and verify the use of funds. In urgent social cases, the Ministry can draw on the national social assistance and solidarity fund. To address the challenge of illiteracy, the platform currently allows literate individuals to submit requests on behalf of others, with future plans to integrate voice commands and artificial intelligence in nationa
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Dr. SOME/DAO Madjelia Cangré Ebou, Research Director at CNRST/INERA in Ouagadougou, highlights the critical role of insect biodiversity in agroecosystems and food security in the Sahel, coinciding with the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22, 2026. Insects, comprising 75% of the animal kingdom, are essential for pollinating crops, regulating pests, fertilizing soils, and maintaining ecosystem balance. Research in Burkina Faso on Moringa oleifera and Piliostigma reticulatum demonstrates that insect biodiversity is fundamental to survival. These two multi-purpose woody species are vital for maintaining entomological diversity and ecological function in Sahelian agroecosystems. Piliostigma reticulatum supports 30 insect families across 10 orders, serving as a habitat, food source, and breeding ground for pollinators, agricultural auxiliaries, and organic matter recyclers. Its long flowering period ensures continuous nectar and pollen availability. Similarly, Moringa oleifera flowers provide significant nectar for pollinators like bees, hoverflies, and butterflies, also hosting diverse useful insects and phytophagous species. These species act as "biological crossroads" for Sahelian entomofauna, supporting a diverse network of insects crucial for ecological balance and agricultural sustainability. The disappearance of even one link in this chain can lead to cascading ecological imbalances, affecting agricultural productivity, climate resilience, and food security
Benin's President Romuald Wadagni has appointed journalist and producer Claudy Siar as special envoy for culture, media, and national visibility. The appointment was announced following a Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Siar, a prominent figure in the Francophone media landscape, joins the presidential team with the mission to enhance Benin's cultural influence and strengthen its international image. This nomination follows his official acquisition of Beninese nationality, an event he described as a significant moment in his personal journey.
Dr. Aoua Carole Congo, Director of the Institute of Social Sciences INSS, launched her new book, "When Words Heal: A Psycholinguistic Approach to Crises," on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Ouagadougou. The 333-page book highlights the essential role of speech in healing, mediation, and reconciliation processes, particularly within the context of Burkina Faso's security and humanitarian crisis. Divided into eight chapters, the work emphasizes the power of words as a crucial lever for resolving the crisis. Through accounts of mediation, dialogue, and reconciliation, Dr. Congo demonstrates how speech can soothe wounded hearts, restore social bonds, and foster coexistence among conflict-affected communities. She argues that beyond rebuilding material infrastructure, revitalizing economies, and stabilizing institutions, a fundamental, often invisible dimension is the symbolic and psychic reconstruction of individuals and communities. The author explains how speech acts as a powerful mechanism for emotional and cognitive regulation in the face of individual and collective trauma. The book analyzes the role of language and narration in resilience processes, showing how individuals and communities use words to make sense of suffering, rebuild self-esteem, and restore social ties. It also illuminates the educational, therapeutic, and social functions of speech in the African context, offering theoretical and practical tools for education, social mediation, and psycholinguistic support for
Must ReadIn a letter dated June 1, 2026, Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso has urged ministers and heads of institutions to adopt the term "comrade" in administrative correspondence, public statements, and speeches. The Prime Minister stated that in the current context of the Popular Progressive Revolution RPP, it is important for official language to reflect the spirit of equality, militant fraternity, and active solidarity between leaders and the people.