Joséphine Ouédraogo (born 22 December 1949) is a Burkinabé sociologist and politician. She served as
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
of Burkina Faso from 2014 to 2016.
Biography
Ouédraogo was born in 1949 and received her early education in
Koudougou
Koudougou () is a city in Burkina Faso's Boulkiemdé Province. It is located west of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. With a population of 160,239 (2019), it is the List of cities in Burkina Faso, third most populous city in Burkina F ...
. She was brought up in the Mossi tradition. Her father, Henri Guissou, was an MP in the French Parliament for
French West Africa
French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...
and her mother was illiterate. After her father was named the ambassador to France, she moved to Paris in 1961. Ouédraogo attended the Institut de la Tour in Paris and she received the baccalauréat in 1968. In 1974, she earned a degree in sociology at the
Paris Descartes University
Paris Descartes University (), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Descartes completely merg ...
. After receiving her degree, Ouédraogo worked as a sociological research assistant and studied rural society, development approaches and their impact on women and peasants.
She was a supporter of
Thomas Sankara
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabè military officer, Marxist and Pan-Africanist revolutionary who served as the President of Burkina Faso from 1983, following his takeover in a coup, until ...
but was overall not involved in politics, and was concerned by violence that had occurred as a result of Sankara's rise to power. Nonetheless, in September 1984 he unexpectedly offered her the position of minister of family development and solidarity. Sankara said her sociological work was helpful to the revolution.
Ouédraogo stated that she would consider Sankara's offer, and while she was conferring with relatives on whether to accept his offer Sankara publicly announced that she had joined his cabinet. In her role, Ouédraogo pushed for an end to
female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...
, proposed a national family law, and supported a women's strike in 1984.Sheldon 2016, p. 227 She was instrumental in commemorating 8 March as
International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...
in Burkina Faso. Sankara was killed in a coup on 15 October 1987 and
Blaise Compaoré
Blaise Compaoré (born 3 February 1951)''Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders'' (2003), page 76–77.
took power. She moved to Tunisia in December 1987.
Ouédraogo went into exile and served as an important figure for women's development in Africa. From 1989 to 1992 she served as a project coordinator for the Pan-African Development Institute in
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
. In 1997, she became director of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA or ECA; , CEA) was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states (the nations of the Africa, African contin ...
's gender division. She was successful in making women's issues a prominent feature in government conferences and task forces. In addition, she created a new evaluation program, the African
Gender Development Index
The Gender Development Index (GDI) is an index designed to measure gender equality.
GDI, together with the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), was introduced in 1995 in the Human Development Report written by the United Nations Development Progra ...
.Sheldon 2016, p. 228 She became deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in 2005. From 2007 to 2011 Ouédraogo was secretary-general of
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
's Enda Third World. In 2007, she was named one of the 50 most influential women in Africa by
Jeune Afrique
''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...
.
In 2012, Ouédraogo returned to Burkina Faso. She became head of the consulting firm Appui recherche action (ARC). In October 2014, Compaoré fell from power after a number of protests that included women brandishing spatulas and brooms to signify their displeasure.
Michel Kafando
Michel Kafando (born 18 August 1942) is a Burkinabé diplomat and politician, who served as Interim President of Burkina Faso from 2014Cherif Sy. After Kafando was sworn in, he named Ouédraogo Minister of Justice. She harshly criticized the justice system in the old regime, and one of her first actions was reopening an investigation on the assassination of the president of the National Revolutionary Council, which was blocked for almost two years by the civil courts. Ouédraogo brought together 2,000 civil society members, policemen, judges, and lawyers to
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
in March 2015 to sign a National Pact for Renewal of Justice. She served until January 2016 and was replaced as minister of justice by Bessolé René Bagoro.
Personal life
Ouédraogo has a husband and three children,. She is a devout Christian. She identifies with
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and
anti-globalization
The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist ...
.
Publications
* Etude sur les besoins des femmes dans les villages de l’A.V.V. et proposition d’un programme d’intervention – April 1977 – USAID – SA.
* “Les systèmes alimentaires – Femmes et Développement en Afrique de l’Ouest” UNSRID – 1986 Série systèmes alimentaires et sociétés.
* “Rapport entre droit foncier traditionnel et droit moderne illustré par l’impact du régime Société sur le statut des femmes au Burkina Faso” - 1989.