Target Malaria Uganda and Burkina Faso teams share stakeholder engagement experiences 

A delegation from Target Malaria Uganda’s Stakeholder Engagement team traveled to Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, for a vital learning and knowledge sharing visit. 

The purpose of the trip was to gain insights from Target Malaria Burkina Faso’s pioneering experience in community engagement. The team focused on understanding engagement strategies at various levels, including village communities, national stakeholders, and communities surrounding the insectary. This included field trips to the project site, Souroukoudingan, discussions with the communities, and meetings with key representatives of the traditional authority of the Hauts-Bassins region. A highlight was the audience granted by the Bobo Mandarè himself, the supreme spiritual and traditional leader of the Bobo ethnic group. 

This symbolic meeting illustrated Target Malaria Burkina Faso’s profound approach through the involvement of traditional authority holders in the research process. The dialogue highlighted the role cultural institutions and leaders, as similarly in Uganda, play in advancing research of genetic technology in the fight against malaria. This has enabled the building of trust in communities thereby promoting inclusive co-development process of the research. 

The team also attended a national level meeting in Ouagadougou with the participation of the civil society relay group, which provided an opportunity for the Ugandan team to observe and draw inspiration from the model of communication with members of the relay group. The civil society relay group is composed of representatives of civil society organisations in Burkina Faso who have been continuously monitoring the implementation of project activities since 2017. 

The Ugandan representatives were able to see first-hand how the leaders, communities and key organisations act as essential relay of information and legitimacy. The Burkinabe experience shows the importance of their support and understanding in ensuring that research is both responsible and widely accepted. 

The exchange visit also offered Burkinabe stakeholders an opportunity to engage with the Uganda team and seek clarity on key issues like the current stage of Target Malaria Uganda’s research and the extent of the malaria burden in the East African country. 

In conclusion, this immersion not only provided Target Malaria Uganda with take home lessons and insights on the context of work of Target Malaria Burkina Faso , it also enabled the Burkinabe stakeholders to know  gene drive research is equally bringing hope to a country like Uganda, sharing the vision of a world free of malaria.