From April 25 to 27, 2017, an AFP SMART facilitation workshop organized by Equipop was held in Ouagadougou with the aim of obtaining a commitment from 15 mayors to allocate financial resources for FP services in their municipalities. These investments by mayors in family planning are of paramount importance for Burkina Faso. They would help increase funding for FP and consequently reduce unmet needs, while improving women's access to quality FP services wherever they are.
Prior to this facilitation, the Association of Municipalities of Burkina Faso (AMBF) and the president of the Caucus of Women Mayors of Burkina Faso met and exchanged views with the mayors and municipal councilors of the targeted municipalities to raise awareness of the urgent need to invest in family planning in their municipalities. The context is marked by low contraceptive prevalence (22.5%), unmet FP needs of around 19.4% corroborated by a total fertility rate of 5.4 children per woman and a maternal mortality rate of 330 deaths per 100,000 live births.
During the three-day workshop, the 15 mayors came together to discuss the contribution that municipal authorities can make to combating maternal and infant mortality in Burkina Faso. Convinced of the merits of supporting the efforts of national authorities to achieve the national family planning targets 32% by 2020, the mayors are all committed to making family planning a priority in their municipalities and to allocating special funds to FP services in their municipalities. The mayor of Koudougou has committed to granting more than ten million CFA francs to FP in his municipality.
