CESO's partner in Burkina FASO, CRIGED, hosts National Week of Culinary Arts
February 5, 2012
Canadian Ambassador for Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso's Minister for Women and CESO's Country Representative meet at the National Week of Culinary Arts festival.
CESO's partner, CRIGED, hosted Burkina Faso's first National Week of Culinary Arts from February 23-29th, 2012. The festival, which took place in the capital Ouagadougou, featured 250 exhibitors including hotels, restaurants, food producers and manufacturers, among them many of CESO's own clients and partners. The organizers sought to promote women's revenue-generating activities in the country, particularly in local food production, manufacturing and agriculture. It was also intended to highlight the professionalism of female actors in the food industry, as well as to recognize the rich diversity of Burkina Faso's culinary arts. The opening ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister and First Lady, several cabinet ministers, Ambassadors, and CESO's own staff and Volunteer Advisors.
CRIGED (Centre de Recherche et d'Intervention en genre et développement), a program partner of CESO's since 2008, promotes social justice for an equitable society in which both men and women can aspire to achieve their potential without discrimination related to gender or sexual orientation. Several months ago CESO received a request from CRIGED for assistance in organizing this national event. Two CESO VAs worked closely with representatives of CRIGED and the Ministry of Women's Empowerment to ensure that all plans for the event were well-organized and executed. The event was considered a national success, with both immediate results from the increase in sales for participants and a longer-term impact in the form of better visibility for the sector as well as a plan to collaborate on improvements in this industry on a national level. CRIGED will continue to host this event on an annual basis.