BURKINA FASO
Burkina Faso, officially known as the Republic of Burkina Faso, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is bordered by Mali to the north and west, Niger to the east, and Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Côte d'Ivoire to the south. The capital and largest city is Ouagadougou. As of 2023–2025 estimates, its population is roughly 22 million people.
Burkina Faso is a multilingual and multiethnic society. French is the official language, while major indigenous languages include Mooré, Dioula, Fulfulde, and Gourmantché. Ethnic groups include the Mossi (largest), Fulani, Gourmantché, Bobo, and several others.
FAMILY
This category includes anything related to a client’s home life, relationships with parents, siblings, or extended family, and the roles they play within their household. It also covers family expectations, communication patterns, cultural values, responsibilities, conflicts, and any major events or changes happening at home. The goal is to understand how the client’s family environment shapes their daily stress, emotional wellbeing, and behavior.
This study examines how children are often raised not only by their biological parents but also by extended family members through child-fostering practices. It explains how fostering reflects trust, cooperation, and shared responsibility within kin networks. Counselors can use this to understand why family roles may feel fluid or distributed for clients from Burkina Faso.
This qualitative report describes how gender roles shape everyday family life, including expectations around work, decision-making, and obedience within households. It highlights how men and women often hold clearly defined responsibilities passed down through generations. This helps counselors understand how clients may interpret authority, duties, and family expectations.
EveryCulture outlines how the Mossi people—Burkina Faso’s largest ethnic group—organize household structure, kinship, marriage, and inheritance. It explores how marriages are arranged within lineages, how polygyny and levirate practices historically functioned, and how inheritance is patrilineal, strengthening the connection between family roles and social identity.
This documentary gives a visual look at daily family routines, household responsibilities, and community interactions in rural Burkina Faso. It shows how families work together, share resources, and maintain close social bonds within village settings.
COMMUNITY
This category explores how people in Burkina Faso live together beyond the nuclear family — their neighborhoods, friendships, communal networks, social expectations, village or urban community structures, and how these influence daily life, social support, identity, and belonging. It covers social norms, community rituals, mutual aid, socialization practices, and how daily life is shaped by community ties.
This study examines how two West Burkina Faso communities organize themselves around health challenges and shows how social ties and local networks support resilience. It highlights how communal cooperation and local leadership influence everyday problem-solving and collective wellbeing. Counselors can use this to understand how clients may rely on community networks, mutual support, and shared responsibilities.
This paper explores how implementation success varied across community contexts in Ouagadougou and shows how local norms, trust, and social structure affect program uptake. It points to the importance of understanding local community identity, role of informal networks, and communication patterns. For counselors, this provides insight into how community support and social environment shape behavior and coping.
Provides general cultural and social norms — communal living, respect, social behavior inside neighborhoods/communities, which helps counselors understand cultural socialization.
This video presents everyday scenes from Burkina Faso’s village and town communities, showcasing markets, gatherings, and social routines. It gives a visual sense of how neighbourhoods, community tasks, and social roles are lived out.
RELIGION
This category explores the beliefs, spiritual practices, and religious values that shape a client’s worldview. In many African communities, religion is deeply connected to daily life, moral expectations, community belonging, and decision-making. By understanding the client’s religious background—whether traditional beliefs, Christianity, Islam, or blended practices—counselors can better interpret their coping styles, sources of support, stress responses, and the meaning they attach to personal struggles.
This page outlines the research project “Religious Diversity and Tradition in Burkina Faso”, which examines how traditional religions and concepts of “tradition” are understood and reinterpreted in Burkinabé society. It investigates how religion intersects with social dynamics, politics, and identity, especially in a country marked by recent tensions and change
This paper traces how Burkina Faso maintains religious pluralism, how religious groups interact with state and society, and how peaceful coexistence is achieved despite diversity. It highlights how spiritual beliefs influence behavior, identity and communal life. Counselors can use this to understand how clients may have blended religious identities or value religious harmony and communal religion practice.
This article breaks down religious demographics (Islam majority, significant Christian and traditional belief presence) and explains how multiple faiths coexist and influence culture. It offers facts, context and commentary on faith’s role in Burkinabé society. For counselors, this gives a quick overview of what religious backgrounds a client might come from and how faith may influence their worldview.
This video provides an insightful look at religious life in Burkina Faso, showing spiritual ceremonies, community engagement in faith activities, and how everyday worship and belief impact society.