OUAHIGOYA — In an ongoing effort to enhance the capabilities of local leaders in citizen monitoring, a regional conference was held on Saturday, June 29, in Ouahigouya. This event is part of a series organized by the General Directorate of Youth and Continuing Education under the Ministry of Sports, Youth, and Employment. The focus was on equipping the leaders of the ‘Wayiyans’, or citizen watch movements, with the necessary skills to support and protect the authorities during the country’s transitional period.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the conference gathered first officials of the directorate and leaders from various cities to discuss themes crucial for the ongoing Transition. These included citizen engagement, monitoring, and the foundational values of the Transition, emphasizing the youth’s role in these processes. The conference in Ouahigouya featured two key communications: the first on citizen engagement and monitoring by Larba Pilga, and the second on the values of the Transition by Camille Tamalgo.
Larba Pilga, the Director General of Youth and Continuing Education, stated, “This conference aims to strengthen the skills of leaders of citizen monitoring movements and associations. Since the advent of MPSR2, young people have organized themselves into associations at roundabouts in different cities across the country to support the regime, an initiative that we greatly appreciate. But strengthening the skills of these movement leaders is necessary so that they can better support this transition of the people.”
Saidou Mandé, a spokesperson for the citizen watch movements and associations of Ouahigouya, expressed his support for the initiative. He emphasized the importance of such conferences in empowering leaders to be proactive agents of change. “This conference comes at the right time since it is part of the logic of strengthening our capacities, a means of giving us the weapons necessary to be actors of change, to monitor, report and act decisively. I invite all my comrades to open their ears carefully and to unite all our forces to support the transitional authorities until final victory,” he said.
The next conference is scheduled to take place in the town of Sya on July 4, 2024, as the series continues to bolster the leadership across the nation.