Burkina Faso, with the support of PEI, UNDP Burkina Faso, the Government of Luxembourg and the Government of Sweden, is designing a National Environment Fund (FIE) to better address financing gaps for pro-poor sustainable natural resources management. To learn from the experience of Rwanda, that successfully established and operationalized a National Fund for Environment and Climate Change (FONERWA) in 2011, PEI facilitated a south-south exchange visit for Government representatives from Burkina Faso to Rwanda on February 24-27. The Burkina Faso delegation included the Directors of planning, legal affairs and policies.

During the visit the Burkina delegation capitalized on the best practices and lessons learned from FONERWA in terms of institutional, legal and financial aspects of establishing a fund and the importance of designing and operationalizing the fund in a cross-sector manner within the national context while allowing for external funding options. At the end of the visit, Burkina Faso and Rwanda agreed to continue with a long-term technical collaboration centered on environment and climate change funds. The exchange also included a field visit to Kabeza village, a Rwandan model for pro-poor integrated sustainable environment and natural resource management, initially supported by PEI but now supported by funds from FONERWA.

Following the visit the Burkina delegation have shared their experiences with the cabinet and the task team involved in designing the FIE ensuring that the lessons learned from Rwanda are taken into account when establishing the fund in Burkina Faso.