Burkina Faso is a landlocked country bordering Mali to the north and west, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, and Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo to the south. The country of approximately 23 million inhabitants is rich in gold, but remains among the poorest in the world according to the United Nations Human Development Index. Since January 2022, the country has experienced two military coups. The first transitional regime reached an agreement in July 2022 with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the conduct of elections and a return to civilian rule by July 1, 2024. A second coup occurred on September 30, 2022. The new rulers have maintained the transition timeline, but there is a lack of transparency regarding sequencing and timeline against a backdrop of increasing repression of critical voices in civil society and the media and a deteriorating security environment due to terrorist attacks. 

Engaged in Burkina Faso since 2004, the National Democratic Institute has collaborated with civil society, political parties, and the legislature on women’s political participation, policy development, electoral campaigns and observation, conflict prevention and resolution, voter and civic education, and transparency within extractive industries. NDI is supporting the ongoing transition process, assisting Burkinabe civil society organizations (CSO) to monitor the implementation of the transition agenda, inform the public, and hold authorities accountable. NDI supports civil society efforts to advance reforms and a return to constitutional order by engaging with the transition’s legislature on citizens’ priorities and civic education programming in communities across the country to enhance citizens’ understanding of democratic processes.