Newsletter on activities in the first quarter of 2023

Bianca Sewing Centre is located in the Rimkieta district of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Through vocational training, the Bianca Centre, with the financial support of the Versteegen Fund and other donors, enables all young women, whatever their socio-economic situation, to acquire and update knowledge and skills, raise their level of qualification and foster their professional development.

The first quarter of 2023 in Burkina Faso will be marked by different socio-political situations.
In terms of security, the country continues to face an acute security deficit. Population displacements linked to the security situation remain significant. The number of displaced people is estimated at 1,999,127, including 17,71% men, 23,97% women and 53,4% children, according to SP/CONASUR data as at 28 February 2023.
This security crisis is accompanied by an equally worrying food crisis.

Final national cereal production for the 2022-2023 season is estimated at 5,179,059 tonnes, up 11.11% on the 2021-2022 season. However, production is down in 18 of the 45 provinces, and most of the sites affected are in areas where there are major security problems.
This situation is exacerbated by the poor functioning of certain agricultural markets. In areas where there are major security problems, these markets are characterised by a downward trend in availability due to supply problems. In February, prices for basic cereals and consumer products on all of the country's agricultural markets were higher than last year and the five-year average for the same period.

This situation can be explained, on the one hand, by the dysfunction of certain markets linked to the deterioration of the security situation, inflationary pressures due to the COVID-19 crisis and the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, namely (i) the increase in production costs linked to the high cost of agricultural inputs and (ii) the increase in transport costs due to the rise in the price of hydrocarbons. In February 2023, cereal prices on consumer markets rose by 18% year-on-year for local millet, 17% for white sorghum and 8% for maize.

In terms of nutritional status, most provinces are in the alert phase (phase 2) of acute malnutrition. Only the provinces of Loroum, Sanguié, Kompienga, Oudalan, Séno, Soum and Ziro are at the severe or critical stage (stage 3 or more). Arm circumference was measured during the ENISAN survey carried out in February 2023 to assess the nutritional status of children under the age of 5 in the country's 45 provinces. However, in the provinces of Komondjoari, Banwa, Sourou and Yagha, this nutritional status could not be phased in due to the low number of children measured.
As for the response rate

 

Bianca and her students in 2023

The 2022-2023 academic year is taking place at the Bianca Sewing Centre as a continuation of the 2021-2022 activities. Apprenticeship activities include training in cutting and sewing, weaving and dyeing. With three levels of training, the centre has 168 apprentices, including 65 in the first level, 71 in the second level and 32 in the third level.

 

Bianca's human and material resources

The Bianca centre has the staff it needs to operate, and these highly motivated staff are doing their best to improve the organisation's performance for the benefit of girls and women from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Thanks to funding from the Versteegen Foundation, the team has grown. The team is made up of teaching staff (instructors) and administrative staff. The teaching staff is made up of six (06) instructors. The administrative staff is made up of a director, a secretary-accountant, a secretary-receptionist, two guards, a driver and a technical support agent.

It is this dynamic team that enables the Bianca Centre to fulfil its mission of contributing to the reintegration of young unemployed girls and to support several hundred young girls through training in sewing, weaving, embroidery, etc. The team's day-to-day work is made easier by the centre's transport facilities.

Monitoring and support for beneficiaries of kits and working capital

Since 2020, the centre, with the support of its partners, has been helping students who have passed the exam organised by the Bianca Centre to set up their own business.
The support consists of providing each beneficiary with a complete kit for a sewing workshop, consisting of a sewing machine, a table, an iron, scissors and a tape measure. A sum of 90,000 FCFA (€137) will be added to this kit as working capital to set up a sewing workshop.
Between 2020 and 2023, dozens of apprentices benefited from this support at the end of their training.
Beneficiaries benefit from monitoring and support in the form of field visits by trainers. At the end of the visits by the trainers in February 2023, it was noted that the 37 beneficiaries of the year 2022 were effectively setting up and using the resources made available to them.

 

\ ìI am SAWADOGO Florence, I visited the Bianca centre between 2019 and 2021. I was lucky enough to receive a complete sewing kit and an envelope of working capital from the centre. Thanks to this support, I was able to set up my sewing workshop in April 2022. I have customers and with the funds generated by the activity, I'm able to pay for the workshop and support myself without having to ask my family for financial help. \ "

Kit delivery

The year 2023 marked the handover diplomas of the 19th graduating class of 22 girls. To mark the occasion, the Centre Couture Bianca organised a ceremony to present diplomas and kits to the students. The ceremony took place on 23 March 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

\ I am very honoured to sponsor this graduation and trousseau ceremony for the girls of the 19th promotion. I congratulate Mrs OUEDRAOGO Denise for the noble fight she is waging alongside girls and women from disadvantaged backgrounds to promote their economic empowerment, as well as couple management through vocational training and family planning".

 

 

 

 

In her speech, the centre's initiator, Mme Ouédraogo Denise, thanked the sponsor for sacrificing his time to honour this ceremony. She thanked the parents who had spared no expense for three years to support their children's education. She added that the support of the parents coupled with the help of the partners and the competence of the trainers has enabled the centre to achieve a record percentage of 100 % in the Certificate of Professional Qualification (CQP) organised by the State of Burkina Faso.

The ceremony ended with the presentation of the kits. The kit consists of a black-head sewing machine, a table, an iron, a pair of scissors and a tape measure. The kits were presented to the graduates along with an envelope of 90,000 CFA francs. The aim of this donation is to encourage the creation of micro-enterprises by girls and prevent them from being forced to work in workshops or be unemployed.

 

 

Bianca on the web

To raise its profile and communicate with its partners, the Centre Bianca, with the support of its partners, has set up a website (www.biancacoutureburkina.org/). This enables the centre to promote its products via an online shop. The site is available in three languages: English, French and Dutch.

 

 

Thanks to donors and partners

The Bianca Centre would like to thank the Versteegen Committee, the Sahel partners for their invaluable financial and technical support, Ms Lenie and the ABF for their advisory support. The Centre thanks all the donors and all those who have spared no effort to ensure that Bianca fulfils its mission of training young girls for the professions of the future.