PROMESSE-FP 2023 annual review: implementation of action plan highly commendable

The Solidar Suisse, Educo and Aflatoun International consortium organized the 2023 annual review workshop of the Promotion de l’accès des filles à un Système Éducatif et de Formation Professionnelle de qualité (PROMESSE-FP) project in Ouagadougou on December¹. The session was attended by stakeholders.

***The various players were present at the first annual review of the PROMESSE-FP project.***

As part of the project’s technical monitoring and guidance system, this annual review provides a framework for monitoring and accountability. Its aim was to examine with stakeholders the state of implementation of the project’s 2023 action plan and the evolution of indicators. Koudpiga YERBANGA, Director General of Vocational Training, who chaired the workshop, expressed his satisfaction that, despite the changes the project has undergone as a result of internal and external constraints, its main actions for beneficiaries have been maintained and are in line with the objectives of the department in charge of youth, vocational training and employment.

In the middle of the presidium, the Director General of Vocational Training, on the left holding the microphone, the Country Representative of Solidar Suisse Burkina Faso and on the right a Representative of Educo.

Implementation of the 2023 action plan for the Promotion de l’accès des filles à un Système Educatif et de Formation Professionnelle de qualité (PROMESSE-FP) project is progressing satisfactorily. Achievements include

1,125 girls and women, including 475 IDPs, were trained in promising trades such as sheep fattening, two-wheel mechanics, saponification, solar energy, dairy product processing and plumbing by master craftsmen and in 09 vocational education and training centers (CEFP) opened by the project;
99 VSLA groups have been set up with 2,546 members, including 1,164 internally displaced girls and women;
574 project beneficiaries equipped to use ICTs to promote their activities, entrepreneurship and business management;
02 training manuals on the Aflatoun approach to social and financial education (ESF), with content reviewed and adapted to the needs of those involved in post-primary and secondary education and vocational training;
235 actors from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Employment and consortium members trained and certified to participate in the promotion of social and financial education in Burkina Faso.

***The Head of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning of Solidar Suisse Burkina Faso presenting the results achieved by the project.***

As at October 31, 2023, the project’s overall execution rate stood at 76.25%, compared with 59% for the budget. The major challenges faced by the project during the year are linked to the difficult security context and the project revision/reframing process required by the donor. The security situation led to delays, additional costs in the execution of certain activities and the suspension of activities in certain inaccessible areas.

***Like this young girl, the beneficiaries have testified to the positive changes the project has brought to their lives.***

As for the project revision/reframing process, the delay in approval had an impact on the implementation schedule. For this reason, Dieudonné ZAONGO, Country Representative of Solidar Suisse Burkina Faso, Lead Partner of the PROMESSE-FP consortium, reminded participants at the opening of the workshop that, “since the project was launched in 2021, its activities have been taking place in a difficult context, with multiple constraints on both the security and financial fronts, which have impacted in one way or another on the conduct of activities”.