Crown Princess Mary of Denmark paid an official visit to Burkina Faso last week, joining the Minister for Development Aid on a trip to highlight girls’ and women’s health.
The Danish royal visited the Sahel region of the western African nation from 27-29 October, accompanied by Minister Flemming Møller Mortensen. The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that this is an area where “crises and climate change characterise everyday life.”
During this visit, Crown Princess Mary and Minister Flemming Møller Mortensen saw “how the already difficult living conditions have been further put under pressure by climate change and the consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic,” according to the Danish Royal House.
Crown Princess Mary and Minister Flemming Møller Mortensen met with local organisations working to advance the rights of girls and women, as well as those working to combat climate change.
The first day, they visited the city of Kaya and focused on engagements related to climate change. The Danish Royal House posted on Instagram that the day’s engagements saw how the internally displaced people in the region—approximately 1.4 million people, mainly women and children—have put “the already needy health clinics, scarce water resources and food shortages further under pressure.”
On the second day, Crown Princess Mary met with the President of Burkina Faso, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, before undertaking engagements related to young people.
The Danish Royal House said that the second day’s engagements included “both conversations with vulnerable young people who had been subjected to rape, forced marriages and female genital mutilation, but also with the young people who make a special effort to help the hardest hit.”
Crown Princess Mary’s visit to Burkina Faso ended with a reception of Danish partners working in the African country, including the United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and Marie Stopes International. She gave a speech before departing for Denmark.
Crown Princess Mary last visited Burkina Faso in 2016, and the Danish Royal House stated, “Despite progress with, among other things, lower maternal mortality and child marriages, developments in the country in recent years are worrying. In such a situation, it is important to show support for Denmark’s efforts to support the girls and women who are hardest hit.”
In a statement on the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Minister Flemming Møller Mortensen said: “It makes a huge impression to meet the passionate people who put so much effort into making a positive difference in Burkina Faso. It is the women behind the local cooperative who defy climate change and provide water for their agriculture. And the midwives on a motorcycle who take the trip out into the countryside with vital help for women and girls for family planning, pregnancy and childbirth.”
