Burkina Faso

BASE: BURKINA ACTION SOLIDAIRE ET D’ENTRAIDE

BASE is an NGO with three main focus areas: child development and education, economic development, and peace-building. They take care of street children and youth helping them to socially and professionally integrate into society. While they provide a variety of services for their participants, they also use football as a way out for youth experiencing homelessness, substance abuse, and other social difficulties.

ORGANISATION DETAILS

PARTICIPANTS

Street children and marginalised youth facing
homelessness and social isolation.

LOCATIONS

Across the country including: Ouahigouya, Ramatoulaye, Koumbri, Ramatoulaye, Namissiguima, Youba, and Tougou.

country statistics

185 out of 189 in Human Development Index rankings (UNDP, 2022)

Average annual salary per person $860 (World Bank, 2023)

40% of the population live under the poverty line (WFP, 2024)

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in Western Africa with a population of 23.8 million. The majority of the population live in rural areas, with 80% of people working in agriculture (Worldometers, 2025; CIA World Factbook).

Ranked 185 out of 189 in the Human Development Index rankings, Burkina Faso has some of the highest rates of illiteracy, child mortality and malnutrition in the world (US Aid; UNDP, 2022).

Most people depend on one season of rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods, leaving the country vulnerable to the impact of climate-related shocks. Burkina Faso is in The Sahel Region in Africa which in 2022 faced the worst drought in a decade, forcing thousands to move and leading to high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition (WFP, 2024; Africa News, 2022).

Access to sanitation, water and electricity is poor, while insufficient investment in education and infrastructure makes development gains hard to maintain. (Oxfam; World Food Programme, 2018).

As of 2023, More than 1.2 million people were internally displaced because of violent conflict, with an additional 279,000 displaced because of natural disasters. The country has been affected by climate change leading to increased flooding, landslides and droughts (IDMC, 2023). Since 2018 due to ongoing conflict, there has been an 1200% increase in the number of people forced to flee their homes (Oxfam).

Between 3.5 - 4.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country, an increase of 35% between 2022-2023. Burkina Faso also hosts approximately 41,000 refugees in the country, the majority of whom have fled from neighbouring Mali (UNHCR; UNHCR Data Portal).