First SPARK disability inclusion facilitators certified in Burkina Faso
SPARK aims to put people with disabilities in the lead. To do so, SPARK is applying the Disability Inclusion Facilitator approach in all four countries of implementation. Disability Inclusion Facilitators (DIFs) are young persons with disabilities who are trained to include people with disabilities in projects, livelihood and agricultural value chain programmes, as well as to raise awareness on community, local and national levels about the rights and needs of people with disabilities.
In the case of Burkina Faso the process how to identify and select DIFs had been jointly discussed and agreed on in a workshop together with the umbrella organization, as well as four provincial organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), PAFA-4R – one of SPARK`s pilot projects, and the Ministry of Solidarity, Humanitarian Action, Reconciliation, Gender, and Family. The recruitment of DIFs was done through OPDs, press releases and five radio stations. Back in July 2022 24 preselected DIFs participated in the Disability Inclusion Academy for a week`s training. At the end the 15 most promising candidates [14 persons with physical impairment and one person with epilepsy, six females and nine males) were selected in close collaboration with the OPDS and the Ministry of National Solidarity and Humanitarian Action. The main challenge encountered had been the level of education which hindered including candidates with other types of disabilities and achieving gender balance for the moment.
Since then, the selected candidates have received intense capacity development, on the job coaching and advice from the SPARK team, as well as five mentors: one senior mentor at regional level – Mr. Kambou Yara, the President of the regional umbrella OPD (Regional Coordination of Associations of Persons with Disabilities of the Southwest – CRAPHSO), and 5 OPD members on provincial level.
After nine months of coaching and mentoring, we are happy and proud to announce that seven DIFs out of the fifteen were officially certified as disability inclusion facilitators. How was it done? Light for the World Burkina Faso held a refresher and final evaluation session between May 9 and 11, 2023 in Gaoua, in the province of Poni in the South-West region, in order to assess all DIFs using a competency-based framework and award certificates to the facilitators who have acquired the necessary skills.
DIFs had to prepare inclusive training sessions and present them in front of a panel consisting of the SPARK team, the mentors, and a government representative.
The session took place in total transparency according to a member of the jury. In addition to the seven fully certified DIFs, three were accredited as community volunteers and five will keep on working as resource persons to accompany the disability inclusion facilitators. All of them will have another opportunity for accreditation in the months to come. The competency-based framework will form the basis to further improve their skills with active support of the mentors.
The certified facilitators will not only have the task of organizing inclusive training and meetings but also of accompanying the key partners of PAFA-4R to be inclusive in their interventions. According to the Disability Inclusion Advisor and Program Manager at Light for the World, Annick Bambara,
“We have identified those who are able to accompany the partners of the pilot project to better take into account persons with disabilities in their actions. We expect them to be committed, dedicated and available to accompany the partners of the PAFA-4R pilot project in the South-West region and, above all, to accompany the beneficiaries with disabilities at the community level so that they can apply for calls for projects and compete on an equal footing with non-disabled people in the agricultural value chain. All this will allow them to seize employment opportunities more easily.”
The certified facilitators did not fail to express themselves at the end of this retraining and certification session.
“I am happy to be among those who have been selected. I will be able to help others by sensitizing them for a better inclusion of persons with disabilities in the community, that is my role now. Indeed, I have acquired knowledge during these nine months of training and mentoring. They allowed me to overcome my shyness through practical work on public speaking. I have more confidence in myself, and I will work to help others,” confided a certified facilitator Dah W. Brigitte. And according to another certified facilitator Kamboulé Béliko, “I am called to do better through this certification. I must work for the cause of the disabled person. Personally, the trainings have allowed me to broaden my knowledge on the notions of disability and inclusion”.
In addition, the member of the Jury, Kambou Yara did not fail to challenge the certified facilitators on the mission assigned to them, while giving them advice.
“To those who have been selected, I address a message of encouragement and self-sacrifice. Moreover, we hope to have other projects with Light for the World, without forgetting to thank them for what has already been done with the SPARK project“
In Burkina Faso, Light for the World has implemented the SPARK project, since April 2021, as a pilot project to support the operations of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to consider people with disabilities in their interventions.
This program is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and implemented by a consortium led by Light for the World, of which PROCASUR and the International Labour Organization (ILO) are members. The inclusion facilitators are therefore essential to the success of the project. They oversee transferring all the skills on disability inclusion in the agricultural value chains to the partners of the PAFA-4R in the South-West region in Burkina Faso.
