OUAGADOUGOU, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A Burkina Faso government minister on Monday called on authorities to strengthen efforts for fighting social exclusion of women in the West African country.
"We urge traditional and religious authorities to use their prerogatives to ensure respect for human dignity through strong and consistent measures to combat social exclusion of women," said Laure Zongo-Hien, the country's Minister of Women, National Solidarity and Family.
She made the remarks in a release issued in Ouagadougou Monday ahead of the International Women's Day on March 8.
According to official figures, women account for over 52 percent of the whole population in Burkina Faso. Among them, 926 socially excluded women were registered in 13 reception and solidarity centers up to December 17, 2016, but only 61 of them have returned to their families.
The minister urged a joint fight against the phenomenon (of social exclusion of women) in face of the "flagrant violation" of the most fundamental human rights of women.
"I call upon you to prioritize and strengthen networking so as to ensure a more efficient coordination of your actions, to exchange best practices and to make sure that policies for promoting women's rights are well implemented," she said.
The West African country will celebrate the International Women's Day on Wednesday under the theme of "Moral value of the human person: community responsibility in the fight against social exclusion of women."
