Learn how children are facing the trauma of conflict, displacement, and school closures — and how community efforts are helping them hold onto hope.
Burkina Faso is a nation of deep cultural pride and communal resilience, but recent years have brought a wave of violence, poverty, and disruption that has shaken the lives of millions — especially children. These are the three most urgent challenges they face today:
Armed groups and regional instability have displaced over 2 million people in Burkina Faso, with more than half of them being children. Many have lost their homes, family members, and access to schooling.
Due to insecurity, over 6,000 schools have been closed in recent years. This leaves hundreds of thousands of children without a safe place to learn or a routine to ground their lives.
Children affected by violence, loss, and displacement often carry invisible wounds. Yet in much of Burkina Faso, there is little to no access to trained counselors or trauma-informed care for youth.
Despite these challenges, Uganda’s children remain full of hope — dreaming of education, health, and opportunities for a better tomorrow.
At iam4allkids.org, we believe every child has the right to peace, education, and healing. In Burkina Faso, we elevate the voices of local heroes who are rebuilding what conflict has torn apart — schools, routines, safe spaces, and trust.
We:
Share stories of children and families displaced by violence but still seeking education
Highlight community schools and mobile classrooms that are restoring a sense of normalcy
Support mental health and trauma care for children living with fear and loss
In a time of crisis, our mission is simple: help the world see and stand with Burkina Faso’s children.
Burkina Faso is facing one of the world’s fastest-growing humanitarian emergencies — and its children are at the heart of it.
Over 50% of the population is under 18, and many have lost their homes, schools, or caregivers.
Thousands of children are living in camps or host communities with limited resources and no structured education.
Community organizations are doing heroic work — but they urgently need greater global awareness and support.
We believe these children deserve more than survival. They deserve to feel safe, to learn, and to heal.
Even amid crisis, hope continues to rise:
In makeshift settlements, mobile schools are bringing books, routines, and laughter back into children’s lives.
Local teachers are volunteering to reopen classrooms, even under the threat of violence.
In safe zones, children are drawing pictures, telling stories, and slowly beginning to process their pain.
And with your support, these efforts are being seen, shared, and strengthened.
Every story of resilience is a step toward peace.
In communities destabilized by conflict, Keoogo is stepping in to protect the most vulnerable: orphaned and displaced children. Based in Ouagadougou, the organization provides shelter, healthcare, and trauma care to children living on the streets or in displacement.
Keoogo’s social workers help children find family or foster care, while others enroll in transitional learning centers and begin psychological recovery. The organization also runs emergency response programs for youth at risk of trafficking and exploitation.
For children who have lost everything, Keoogo offers something vital — a soft landing, and a second chance.
In the aftermath of violence and upheaval, Fondation KIMI provides creative trauma healing programs for children who can’t yet speak their pain. Through art therapy, play, music, and storytelling, children are given tools to process loss, fear, and grief.
Their trauma-informed facilitators work in displacement camps and local shelters, offering consistent emotional support in places where no formal mental health care exists. Activities are designed around safety, expression, and emotional resilience.
For many children, it’s their first time being asked what they feel — and being told it’s okay to feel it.
In 2023, a partnership between local educators and humanitarian groups launched the Mobile School Caravan, delivering pop-up classrooms to children in conflict-affected villages. Classrooms were made of collapsible tents, whiteboards strapped to donkeys, and backpacks filled with lessons.
In dusty fields outside displacement camps, children gathered around teachers eager to write their names again. Some hadn’t held a pencil in over two years.
The caravan now travels to multiple provinces, offering literacy, math, and emotional learning. For many, it’s not just school — it’s the first step back to feeling like a child again.
In a displacement camp outside Kaya, Burkina Faso, hundreds of children gathered in 2024 for a remarkable event: Children’s Day of Peace. Organized by youth volunteers and local artists, the day featured singing, dancing, storytelling, and peace-themed murals created by the children themselves.
Each activity was designed to help kids reconnect with joy and reclaim their childhood, even if only for a day. Parents watched with quiet emotion as their children smiled freely — some for the first time in months.
What began as a small community event became a symbol of resistance: joy, in the face of violence.
Meet the ten organizations making extraordinary strides in improving the lives of Burkina Faso’s children — one community at a time.
Providing shelter, trauma care, and education for displaced and orphaned children.
Offering creative trauma healing and emotional support to children affected by conflict.
Promoting bilingual education and mobile school systems in underserved and displaced communities.
Supporting long-term care, family reintegration, and schooling for vulnerable children.
Advocating for child protection, anti-trafficking, and emergency support during humanitarian crises.
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