Burkina WRA approach and lessons learned from partnerships.  

• Jérémie Zoungrana, JHPIEGO Country Director and WRA National Coordinator

Learning objectives

• By the end of this presentation, participants will:

learn how to use partnership at different levels to promote safe motherhood through the white ribbon alliance

learn about lessons learnt from this experience

Introduction• WRA/Burkina Faso started as a small community

organization in February 2002 and thanks to partnership has become a national Alliance in just a few years of existence, playing an important role in promoting safe motherhood throughout the country and at the regional level.

• The WRA partnership model of working with different organizations, government, NGOs, and FBOs has been the center of the alliance’s successes.

Diversity

• WRA/Burkina Faso’s national secretariat is composed of members from different organizations that are represented at the national level like Plan, local associations and NGOs, MNH, UNFPA, FCI, MOH, RPMM, Midwives-nurses and Gynecologists associations, religious and traditional leaders…

Involvement

• Activities have been implemented by the same partners

• Building common action Plan through local potentialities

• Many kinds of contributions from time spending time for activities to financial and material resources ones.

Bringing the Issue to regional fora• WRA/Burkina Faso has used

important meetings to introduce the WRA and it mission, such as the: o SAGO (African Society of

Gynecologist) Annual meetings,

o JHPIEGO ARTU (African Regional Technical Updated)

o FASFACO, (West African Federation of Midwives annual meeting)

Achievements

• WRA/Burkina Faso was instrumental on elaborating the MOH’s advocacy plan that has resulted in increase of the national RH budget.

• To achieve this, WRA/Burkina Faso collaborated with it partnering organizations at the national level.

• Other activity includes the promotion of Safe Motherhood by reaching and involving regional organizations like AWARE-RH based in Accra, WAHO, CIFRA, and FOB organizations too.

Impact of partnership • The WRA is well know as national as the

Africa sub region

• The budget of the FHD has been increased

• Gain in effort duplication

• The ribbon is well know as symbol of Safe motherhood

• It is use as Reward in some special events relatives to Safe motherhood

• Partners that never worked in Safe Motherhood area are planning activities on that

Impact of partnership

• Resources have been mobilize at local level instead waiting for international aid

• People knowledge and awareness about safe motherhood issue increased

• Partnership and involvement among members are more developed

Lessons learned • When people are informed about maternal

and newborn mortality issues; they become more involved.

• Using WRA messages as entry point opens up discussion with decision makers.

Conclusion

In general – people are very satisfied with the WRA and see it not as a coalition of organization, but as a tool for advocacy, awareness, partnership, and dialogue among people who are interested in Safe Motherhood.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH