West African Initiatives Advance Youth Employment and Water Access

In Divo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Fondation Diakité cocoa held a ceremony on 29 July 2026 to honor 100 students. Seventy were selected for the “Insert jeunes” project, which places them in internships to gain professional experience, while 30 received academic‑excellence awards and laptops. Project founder Pacôme Christian Kipré said the aim is to “open the world of the company to these young people, allowing them to mature and develop skills.”

In Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the Association des natifs de juillet funded a 3 310 000 CFA water well for the Centre de Santé et de Promotion Sociale (CSPS) of Zongo, delivered on 1 August 2026. The well resolves long‑standing water‑access problems for staff, who “need water to clean instruments, evacuate blood and maintain the rooms,” said infirmier chef de poste Désiré Compaoré.