Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - Initiated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Peace through Development II program (PDEV II) is holding a workshop on May 12 and 13 in Ouagadougou to discuss best practices and lessons learned. Launched in 2012, PDEV II mobilized, trained, and educated thousands of young people, media professionals, organizations and members of civil society, actors in local governance, and finally ordinary citizens in Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad to fight against the rise of violent extremism and promote peace through a more inclusive development and better governance.

To achieve PDEV II’s overall objective to "increase community resilience against violent extremism," USAID and its partners conducted activities and projects to empower youth, the most vulnerable to recruitment by extremist groups; amplify moderate voices through innovative media activities; strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations; and improve local governance.

In Burkina Faso, PDEV II’s achievements include the following:

• More than 460 young people started income-generating activities after receiving vocational training;
• More than 600 adults gained literacy skills;
• 34 schools received textbooks, equipment and additional classrooms in seven localities in the Sahel region;
• Almost 760 Burkinabe youth were trained in leadership, media and participatory theater, and about 20,000 young people were mobilized to participate in more than 650 community events to promote peace, tolerance, and local development.

About 1,785 hours of radio broadcasts were aired in French, Moore and Fulfulde on good governance, peace concepts and the problems of young people.  These radio broadcasts were regularly listened to by nearly 700,000 people.  In addition, more than 800 religious and traditional leaders were trained to contribute to the promotion of tolerance and inter-faith dialogue. 

Finally, to strengthen civil society and improve local governance, PDEV II trained more than 650 local government officials and members of civil society organizations in participatory governance and advocacy. Those who received training in turn have involved young people and other members of civil society in 85 events and community development activities.