From action plans to actions

The Government of Burkina Faso adhered to the SEforAll Initiative which was formalised by the adoption of a national action plan in 2015. But how can this action plan be translated into activities?

When we talk about Sustainable Energy for All, the “all” includes populations in hard to reach rural areas who do not have access to clean and efficient energy. However, as the Ministry of Energy does not have any decentralised representation in Burkina, over 90% of regional and local development plans do not contain any energy related initiatives.

SNV felt that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) could play an important role as an intermediary between the Ministry of Energy and the local authorities, helping to translate national objectives into implementations on the ground. A number of CSOs participated in the government’s SEforALL Action Plan validation workshop held in September 2015, and subsequently, SNV launched its capacity development activities with the CSOs.

Currently, in four rural municipalities of Burkina, SNV assists a consortium of CSOs to intervene in energy-related issues. Since December 2016, the CSOs have been implementing action plans which consist mainly of awareness raising campaigns, targeting local communities, other CSOs and local authorities. We are pleased to report that in three out of four municipalities, the results have been more than satisfactory.

In March 2017, the local development plan in the Satiri municipality was adjusted to integrate the electrification of three health centres and two schools per year. In Lena and Orodara, the current plans also include objectives in relation to SEforALL. In the fourth municipality, Coumbia, the results are still pending.

The next step is a regional capitalisation workshop with mayors, regional authorities and the Ministry of Energy, organised by SNV and the CSO partners. The mayors of the three most progressed municipalities will be invited to share their recent energy access activities to inspire other local decision makers to follow their lead.

We will update you soon with more developments from this inspiring project following the workshops.