The European Union and Burkina Faso step up their cooperation

The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, strengthened the cooperation and partnership between the European Union and Burkina Faso at a meeting in Brussels.

Presidents Juncker and Kaboré discussed the cooperation between the European Union and Burkina Faso in the fields of the economy, security and culture. The two presidents also discussed the subject of the presidency of G5 Sahel, which Burkina Faso will hold next year, and the challenges faced by the country, particularly in the area of security.

President Juncker said: “The partnership between the European Union and Burkina Faso is very strong, and our meeting has been an excellent opportunity to underline this. We discussed our joint commitment to democracy, security, development and governance. Our cooperation is already yielding successful results which are benefiting the people of Burkina Faso, and we are committed to strengthening it further, in particular through our new Alliance with Africa to create investment and jobs, and our External Investment Plan.”

President Kaboré was then received by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and the Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, with whom he signed two new agreements to support culture and gender equality in Burkina Faso. These new financial commitments form part of the EU’s global cooperation with Burkina Faso, representing a total of around EUR 980 million between 2014 and 2020.

The first agreement, worth EUR 10 million, will make it possible to support the creative industries and governance in the field of culture in Burkina Faso. The new programme covers the period 2018-2022 and focuses on job creation in priority cultural sectors such as film-making (cinema and video), the performing arts (music, theatre, story-telling, dance), artistic crafts and applied arts.

The second agreement, worth EUR 5 million, will strengthen the country’s gender equality efforts. This support will make it possible to support the government’s action in the following three areas: establishing a Burkina Faso state budget; combating gender-based violence; and women’s participation in the political decision-making process.

Original source: European Commission
Published on 8 November 2018