The U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou participates in a program called the Ambassador's Special Self-Help Program. This program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the U.S. Department of State. For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2003 our Embassy will distribute $124,400 U.S. dollars for use in self-help projects in Burkina Faso. This is the more money than any other U.S. Embassy in Africa receives for self-help projects, and we are proud of our strong self-help program.

Our Embassy uses this money to fund projects that:

• Improve economic and social conditions at the grassroots level;
• Support high-impact, quick-implementation activities that benefit a large number of people;
• Involve a significant local contribution in cash, labor, or material;
• Are within the ability of the local community to operate and maintain;
• Are in direct response to the initiatives and aspirations of the local community; and
• Whenever possible, contribute to income-generating or sulf-sustaining activities.

In the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2001 we distributed $140,000 U.S. dollars for self-help projects in Burkina Faso. In the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2002 we distributed $118,000 U.S. dollars. Much of this money was spent on projects involving the construction of schools, the production of water resources, and the construction of food production facilities. Almost all of this money is used for projects in small or medium-size villages.

Persons in Burkina Faso wishing to propose a project for funding should contact the Embassy's Self-Help Coordinator at amembouaga@state.gov or call the Embassy for further information.

There is also some very useful information about the Self-Help Program on the french version of this website.