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Ambassador of Burkina Faso in Berlin: ‘African Problems Need African Solutions’

April 01st, 2014
Marie Odile Bonkoungou-Balima - ICD.jpg

News from Berlin - On Friday March 28th H.E. Marie Odile Bonkoungou-Balima, the ambassador of Burkina Faso in Berlin, was the guest of the German Kirchmann Foundation.

The goal of the Kirchmann Foundation is to develop educational and wealth projects in Burkina Faso, which is, according to the Human Development Index, the third poorest country of the world. One of the main achievements of the foundation was the construction of a hospital in Sabou, a region characterized by a lack of doctors and health infrastructures.  

The Kirchmann Foundation invited the Burkina Faso ambassador in Abensberg (Bavaria). It was the occasion for Mrs. Marie Odile Bonkoungou-Balima to speak about humanitarian aid in Africa.

Indeed, the ambassador asserted “we have to solve problems in Africa by ourselves. The problems won’t be solved by Europe”.  One of the main explanations is that Africa is not a country but a continent, a continent full of diversity. As a consequence, humanitarian aid has to adapt to each region of Africa and cannot be provided uniformly. It has to be made in cooperation with local societies. This was the approach adopted by the Kirchmann Institution, which for example organized an art exhibition with local artists of Burkina Faso in order to promote solidarity and comprehension through culture.

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