By Brendan Sweeney
Burkina Faso, which achieved independence from France in 1960, has suffered from a variety of political and economic ills that are typical of post-colonial countries in Africa. However, a number of military coups during the 1970s and 1980s were followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s.
This landlocked country is included in DIHR’s West Africa Strategy. The Institute was contacted by the Ministry for the Promotion of Human Rights in Burkina Faso in 2005, consultations took place with the Danish Embassy in 2006, and in 2007, the Institute posted West Africa Strategy Adviser, Lisbet Ilkjær to Burkina Faso.
In the following interview - which has been abridged - Lisbet Ilkjær describes her work in Burkina Faso and with the West Africa Strategy programme. She also explains how human rights play a crucial role in promoting the development of the region. To read a full version of the interview, please click on the link on the right.
What exactly is your role in the West Africa Strategy programme?
I am part of the West Africa Unit. Monique Alexis is the Coordinator. She is based in Denmark but travels frequently to West Africa while I am the Senior Legal and Strategy Adviser stationed in the region. We developed the West Africa strategy together and now we’re implementing it… I am also the person who is mainly responsible for our rule of law projects with state institutions which includes the Human Rights Ministry in Burkina Faso and in Niger the judges, the police and security services.
What are the main human rights problems in Burkina Faso today?
Impunity, the situation in the prisons and of course poverty – and illiteracy. Many people cannot read or understand French which is the official language in the country so there is a corresponding lack of knowledge about rights. This means that the promotion of rights is a very important element of our strategy there. But fundamentally many of these problems are linked to the country’s poverty.
Could I ask you what is currently happening in Burkina Faso and DIHR’s role in the country?
We have a partnership with the Ministry for the Promotion of Human Rights which was initiated in 2005 when the then Minister visited Denmark and asked for our assistance… I have been based in Burkina Faso since 2007 in order to coach the strategic plan for 2008-2010. That plan was adopted by the government of Burkina Faso on 15 Oct 2008…
What sort of practical measures are being taken in Burkina Faso as part of this programme?
DIHR is providing expertise to develop strategic plans for state institutions, and this is the reason I was stationed in Burkina Faso. We take a different approach to many strategic planners who tend to focus more on problem solving and closing gaps. Instead, we start with the mandate of the Ministry….
Does it mean that the programme is more motivational?
Yes, it allows people to respond imaginatively within the legal framework of the programme instead of being restricted by problems right from the start. In other words it asks the question: in an ideal situation what can this institution do to improve human rights instead of just focusing on solving problems…
What sort of results are you expecting?
Very often the process is more important than the result, and it is more important to change people’s way of thinking and get them to list their own needs and not just the wishes of the donors. Often the partner starts off by thinking in terms of one-off activities, such as conferences and seminars, but as time goes on they develop a much more sustainable view of the programme and this helps to drive the process forward…
You are working very closely with the state in Burkina Faso. Isn’t there a danger that the Institute will become too closely associated with the state? What about NGOs and civil society actors?
We haven’t started any projects with civil society actors directly as yet, but if you look at our West Africa strategy this is on the drawing board. However, since the Ministry already works closely with civil society partners in Burkina Faso you could say that we do in fact collaborate with civil society already… With regard to the first question, I think we have to concentrate on the partnership with the Ministry in the beginning. Partnership is often used as a buzzword but you cannot have a functioning partnership unless you succeed in achieving something…
The government in Burkina Faso has invested a lot of effort and resources in developing human rights. The Ministry for Human Rights is itself quite large; with a staff of I think 80?
Yes, there are over 80 employees. When the Ministry was created back in 2002 it was said that it was a donor-created ministry but you don’t hear that criticism any more and especially since the Ministry has begun to target its work using validated methods. This summer the first nine advisers educated at the National School for Administrators will begin their work in the Ministry. The Ministry is relatively new and of course it takes time to ensure that all the right competencies are in place.
What do you think about the role of indicators in showing how effective these programmes are?
…Indicators can be hard to understand for many people. However, at the end of the day, they just measure what you do. Performance indicators are pretty concrete. For example, when the Ministry says they will deliver a police manual, a law reform programme or a centre for documentation and orientation; these are performance indicators which the Ministry has control over. They don’t however have full control over the effect. How does the police academy make use of the new police manual, for instance? Finally there are the result indicators which are actually the reason for making a police manual in the first place. These indicators ask whether police behaviour is changing or whether the general public feels safer…
It sounds like the main problem in countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger, is their weak state infrastructure?
Yes, exactly. But often there is reluctance among donors to support capacity-building measures for state institutions although civil society is often just as challenging to work with as the state. There is a perception that civil society actors are the good guys while the state institutions are the bad guys and that state institutions should just try to work more efficiently. This is why it is so important for the Danish Institute for Human Rights to explain why it is working with state institutions. State institutions are the ones responsible for implementing human rights and if these do not work efficiently human rights changes are very difficult to achieve.
And finally, how can DIHR make a difference in a huge region such as West Africa?
…The strategy was based on a combination of three factors, the problems that existed in West Africa, what partners wanted and thirdly the expertise the Institute could offer. We could not solve all the human rights problems in West Africa, but on the basis of these three factors we developed four intervention areas; and within these areas you can see that we are making a difference… We have also organised several conferences where we have gathered people working with human rights from all over West Africa to study the role of national human rights institutions, the state and civil society. Then we have the Family Law project in which Stephanie Lagoutte [DIHR’s Research Department] is our scientific expert. This is part of a two-year Research Partnership Programme which was dedicated solely to West Africa in 2007 and 2008 and where a regional network has now been created.
For further information, please contact Brendan Sweeney at