Burkina Faso’s Military Widows Get Help to Support Their Families    

OUAGADOUGOU - Saturday, August 21, is the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, a day that is unfortunately relevant in Burkina Faso which is engaged in fighting Islamist militants. One Burkinabe nonprofit, Go Paga, is helping widows and orphans grappling with the loss of husbands and fathers to rebuild their lives.

Some 1.3 million people have been displaced in Burkina Faso’s conflict since it began in 2015, and more than 6,000 killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. Burkinabe military personnel are among the dead, killed fighting terror groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida.       Loretta Ilboudou is the widow of a soldier killed in that fight. She  says it was on December 24, 2019. She and her family were preparing for Christmas. Her husband’s uncles arrived in the morning, but she wasn’t informed of his death until that evening. She said she suspected something but wasn't told anything to begin with.    Her husband died during a terrorist attack on the town of Arbinda. The couple had a daughter who was just a few months old at the time.