The community dialogue framework is being held as a prelude to the second regional community day in the Boucle du Mouhoun region. The Solidar Suisse and SOS Sahel International Burkina Faso consortium is organizing this activity as part of the Strengthening Community Resilience of Agroforestry Households in the Boucle du Mouhoun and Nord Regions (RESICOM) project. A total of four dialogue sessions were held at the home of His Majesty the Massa of Dédougou on November 12, 2O23. The aim was to assess the level of implementation of best practices in the amicable resolution of community conflicts, and the strategies for strengthening community cohesion put forward at previous meetings.
18 communities took part in the dialogue, each with 5 representatives. Each community was asked to reflect on the theme:“What are the strategies for valorizing local mechanisms and knowledge in the promotion of peace and social cohesion? ”. To facilitate the work and ensure good results, the theme has been broken down into four sub-themes. The first deals with good or endogenous practices used by communities to resolve community conflicts since the last regional community day. The second looks at the strategies for strengthening harmonious coexistence and social cohesion that these communities have used since the last Regional Community Day. The third sub-theme deals with the difficulties faced by the communities, and the last focuses on the recommendations to be made to all community members to make social cohesion a reality in Dédougou. The debates were summed up in plenary session.
Regarding best practices for resolving conflicts
These include recourse to elders, joking relatives, wise men, griots and blacksmiths, customary and religious authorities, community leaders, etc. In some cases, mediation by paternal and maternal uncles, and traditional chiefs, has also been used.
Strategies for strengthening community life
At this level, socio-ethnic communities and groups have taken a number of initiatives. These include the organization of these communities into associations, the organization of socio-cultural and sporting activities, the presentation of greetings within certain communities, the periodic holding of meetings between communities, the organization of activities to promote kinship or the joking alliance, etc.
Difficulties have prevented the use of some of the best practices and strategies previously proposed for community conflict resolution. Participants in the dialogue framework mentioned, among other things, the difficulty of mobilizing members in several communities, the lack of mastery of joking kinship in some communities, the poor organization of some communities and a lack of understanding of the culture of others.
Recommendations
Other recommendations concern the multiplication of meeting places between communities, the promotion of respect for the values of other communities, and the promotion of civic-mindedness, patriotism and responsible citizenship. There is also the organization of socio-cultural activities and the periodic holding of community days. Two facilitators led the work of these dialogue frameworks. They are Dapoba DIARRA, human rights advisor, and Joseph NOBA, social educator.
