Burkina Faso: ALIMA’s Actions on the Ground
📍 ALIMA presence since: 2011
🛡️ Mission status: ongoing
🏥 Beneficiaries in 2024: 535.087
🔹 Key areas of expertise: Malnutrition | Epidemics and emerging diseases | Women’s health | Research and innovation
Humanitarian situation in Burkina Faso
Since 2018, Burkina Faso has been facing a rapid decline in both security and humanitarian conditions. Attacks by armed groups have led to large-scale population displacement and disrupted access to essential social services, including healthcare.
📌 Key figures of the crisis in Burkina Faso:
Medical aid and humanitarian response in Burkina Faso
👩⚕️Women’s health
In the Center, Center-North, North, and Sahel regions, ALIMA is working to:
- Facilitate access to pre- and postnatal care
- Support deliveries in improved sanitary conditions.
- Strengthen care for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The 1,000 Days project focuses on providing specialized medical and nutritional follow-up for mothers and children in the first six renovated health centers in Ouagadougou.
📊 In 2024, ALIMA conducted 23.285 prenatal consultations and assisted 5.977 births.
🥣 Malnutrition
In collaboration with local partners, ALIMA is addressing malnutrition by:
- Screening children using MUAC band
- Providing free treatment for severely malnourished children
- Training mothers in good nutritional practices
📊 In 2024, ALIMA treated 7.298 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
🚑 Conflict and displacement
ALIMA has also deployed:
- Mobile clinics to treat displaced populations
- Free treatment for common diseases (malaria, respiratory infections, diarrhea)
- Psychological support for victims of conflict-related trauma.
📊 In 2024, ALIMA provided medical assistance to 374.561 displaced persons.
🦠 Epidemics and emerging diseases
ALIMA is supporting epidemic response efforts by:
- Conducting vaccination campaigns against infectious diseases
- Pre-positioning of contingency kits
- Providing training to build the capacity of local health workers
- Strengthening surveillance systems to rapidly detect new outbreaks.
📊 In 2024, ALIMA vaccinated 50 176 people against 13 diseases, including:
- polio, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis,
- Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal infections,
- measles, rubella, yellow fever, meningitis,
- and rotavirus-related diarrhea.
🔬 Research and innovation: new approaches to malnutrition and epidemics
- 1,000 Days project: research on the impact of integrated care on maternal and child health
- SURGE project: improving the resilience of the health system to health crises
📊 In 2024, ALIMA trained 166 health workers in the management of epidemics and malnutrition.
Highlight project in Burkina Faso
🎯 1,000 Days project: an initiative to protect mothers and children
The 1,000 Days project, led by ALIMA in collaboration with GRET and the Higher Institute of Population Sciences (ISSP), focuses on vulnerable mothers and children to prevent malnutrition and improve access to care.
📌 Why this project matters
- The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are crucial for their current and future development, offering a vital window of opportunity.
- Lack of healthcare increases the risk of complications and malnutrition.
📌 Project goals
- Train mothers in good food and health practices
- Facilitate access to pre- and postnatal care
- Strengthen healthcare access for mothers and children
- Equip and rehabilitate health centers to improve birth conditions
Through this program, over 358,000 beneficiaries have received support, including over 48,000 children under five and over 35,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Testimony from the field: the impact of ALIMA's actions
Before, women who gave birth had to share the same room. There was no lighting or water. Thanks to ALIMA's 1,000 Days project, we now have a new maternity ward with modern facilities. I'm proud and grateful because it transformed the lives of the women and children in our community.
Maimouna, Beneficiary of the 1,000 Days project
On the ground
Our News from Burkina Faso
1,000 Days to Change Lives: Health and Nutrition in Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso, the 1,000 Days project supports pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as children under five. From pregnancy to a child’s second birthday,
The Plastik Project Revolutionizing Medical Waste Management in Burkina Faso
The waste of two essential items in the healthcare and nutritional response in sub-Saharan Africa poses significant environmental pollution. How can their impact be minimized?
My adventure at ALIMA
I joined the ALIMA team in January 2024. A month and a half later, I was lucky enough to go on a mission to Mali
