Venue: Meeting Room of the Directorate of Human Resources, Ministry of Health, Ouagadougou

Overview. On Thursday, August 26, 2025, the Technical Secretariat for Health Financing Reform (ST-RFS) convened an information session on the National Health Financing Forum, chaired by the Ministry of Health’s Secretary-General. Participants included officials from the Ministry of Health, RESADE, the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAMU), technical and financial partners (Gates Foundation, UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, CHAI, ThinkWell), private health sector, and civil-society organizations. The World Bank joined remotely via Zoom.

Purpose and format. The session aimed to align all stakeholders on the forum’s organization by (i) presenting the forum’s concept note, (ii) reviewing and amending the draft roadmap, and (iii) discussing roles and responsibilities. The meeting used a participatory format combining presentations and open discussion.

Concept note highlights (ST-RFS). Despite notable health gains in recent decades, significant health-financing challenges persist: low public spending, limited private-sector contributions, weak pooling and coordination of resources, and constraints in strategic purchasing. In the context of declining external resources and security-related fiscal pressures, the forum is designed as a policy and technical reflection space – and not a fundraising event- to identify levers for strengthening the financing of Burkina Faso’s health system.

Additional context (RESADE). RESADE outlined the origins of the forum initiative and the process used to draft and validate the concept note.

Discussion outcomes. Participants sought clarifications and offered suggestions, notably to broaden stakeholder inclusion (specific partners, CSOs, and private actors) whose engagement could enhance the forum’s value. Overall, the forum was deemed highly relevant given the national and international context.

Roadmap and timeline. ST-RFS presented a draft roadmap with provisional dates of October 23–25, 2025. After review and updates, participants agreed to maintain an October 2025 timeline, noting its potential to inform aspects of the 2026 budget discussions. Given the heavy end-of-year workload of the actors within the Ministry of health, participants recommended designating a technical partner – a technical arm – to support the National Organizing Committee (CNO) with preparatory tasks. RESADE was proposed as this technical arm, and a specific agreement (MoU) should be elaborated to formalize the collaboration between RESADE and the Ministry of Health for the organization of the forum.