News: IRG/NDI program alumna named Minister for Women, National Solidarity, and Family in Burkina Faso

"On January 31, 2018, the Honorable Hélène Marie Laurence Ilboudo Marchal, who had recently participated in a parliamentary exchange program organized by the Institute for Representative Government in partnership with the National Democratic Institute and funded by the State Department’s Office of Citizen Exchanges, was appointed Minister for Women, National Solidarity, and Family in Burkina Faso to become one of the newest ministers to assume office in President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré’s cabinet. Following the announcement of the new cabinet, the secretary general of the government said, congratulating Honorable Ilboudo Marchal on her appointment, “the President of Burkina Faso has placed his trust in you based on your experience and your skills." In her acceptance speech, the Honorable Ilboudo Marchal expressed her intentions to work with all staff to build a ministry of progress and social justice.

"During the exchange program, which took place in November, 2017 in Washington, DC and Annapolis, MD, the Honorable Ilboudo Marchal and her counterparts from the National Assemblies of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger discussed tools and policy information for responding effectively to rising security threats of violent extremism and strengthening peace and security in the Sahel region and globally with national and local policymakers, as well as regional and subject matter experts. The Honorable Ilboudo Marchal, who was serving at the time as a member of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, a member of the Assembly’s defense and security committee, and the president of a parliamentary network for women and development, was a dynamic member of the delegation and added invaluable contributions to the exchanges."