Burkina faso: With more than three decades of experience in sports and administration, Annick Lydie Djouma Pikbougoum/Zingu© Ouattara has been appointed Minister of Sports, Youth and Employment. She is poised to leverage her extensive expertise to advance training, inclusion, and development for young Burkinabe.

According to Burkina Information Agency, the new minister is a prominent technocrat and a key figure in Burkinabe sports. Her academic and professional journey spans over three decades, marked by a commitment to training, sports governance, and social inclusion. Djouma Pikbougoum/Zingu© Ouattara holds a degree in STAPS from the National Institute of Youth and Sports in Abidjan, with additional training in psychology from the National University of C´te d'Ivoire, and furthered her studies in Europe.

She possesses a professional master's degree in sports organization management from Claude Bernard University Lyon 1/INSEP Paris and completed an advanced handball training program at the University of Leipzig, Germany. She also holds a master's degree in adult development and education from Joseph Ki-Zerbo University.

Professionally, Djouma Pikbougoum/Zingu© Ouattara began her career as a certified physical education teacher and progressed to strategic roles within the sports administration. She served as director of competitive sports and then as director of high-level sport at the Ministry of Sports between 2006 and 2011. Additionally, she was a board member of the Office for the Management of Sports Infrastructure.

Her expertise extended into higher education, where she worked as a research officer at the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Secondary and Higher Education, then at the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. In 2024, she became a special advisor in the office of the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.

Djouma Pikbougoum/Zingu© Ouattara is also a former international handball player, representing Burkina Faso from 1988 to 2003. As a coach, sports administrator, and trainer, she has been the executive director of Special Olympics Burkina Faso since 2002, promoting the inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities through sport.

Her leadership has guided several Burkinabe delegations to the World Games in Dublin, Athens, Los Angeles, and Abu Dhabi, as well as to the Winter Games in Graz and Berlin. Committed to women's sports, she is the executive secretary of the National Women's Football League, a commissioner for national and international matches, and the founder of the women's football section of the Moving Football Centre.

With her appointment, Burkina Faso is entrusting an experienced leader whose in-depth knowledge of sport, youth, training, and public administration offers a valuable asset to invigorate youth and employment sectors.