AFRICA/BURKINA FASO - The Bishops a year ago warned: "Young people’s anger increases due to corrupt politics"

Friday, 31 October 2014

Ouagadougou (Agenzia Fides) - A young and angry society because of the lack of prospects due to corrupt politics, but also more informed thanks to the widespread of new technologies. This is what the Bishops of Burkina Faso highlighted in a Pastoral Letter published on 15 July 2013. A description that points out what is currently happening in the Country.
"46.4% of the population of Burkina Faso is under 15 years old, 59.1% under 20" recalled the Bishops. "This youth (..) is unhappy and lost due to the absence of social models. The image of those in power is relatively negative, because it is tarnished by corruption and cronyism. Hence the temptation of some young people to harbor violence based on resentment or to engage in non-transparent business".
The Message noted, however, a substantial increase in the rate of literacy, doubled since 1985 (16.17% of the population) to 2012 (32%). "What is also noted is the improved access to new information technologies (mobile phones, community radio stations, radio and private television, the Internet). There is also an awakening of the consciousness of women, increasingly literate", although the rate of schooling of girls aged 15 to 24 was in 2012, 33% against 47% of boys.
The Bishops also denounced the strong social disparities between "excruciating" mass poverty, which means that 43.9% of the population lives below the poverty line, and the wealth held by a small group, which is divided between the political and financial power, through corruption and the use of State property for personal purposes. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 31/10/2014)


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