Burkina Faso/ The Naples call: redefining national service for the Diaspora
A recent appeal by the ambassador of Burkina Faso to Italy, Cyrille Ganou/Badolo, has sparked a strategic debate on the role of the diaspora in national rebuilding. Speaking in Naples, he declared that citizens abroad can serve as Volunteers for the Homeland Defense (VDP), signaling a pivotal shift: national sovereignty is no longer solely a territorial matter but a collective endeavor involving the entire Burkinabe community, wherever they reside.
This redefinition transforms the diaspora from being viewed merely as a source of remittances into a strategic reservoir of skills, innovation, and influence.
With its presence in academic, economic, technological, and diplomatic spheres, the diaspora holds real potential to impact partnerships, training, productive investment, and international alliance-building.
Sovereignty, in this context, is strengthened through collective intelligence and coordinated action beyond borders.
The VDP role itself is being reimagined evolving from territorial self-defense to an expanded model of active citizenship.
Contributions can now be logistical, technical, financial, informational, or diplomatic. Being a VDP means participating not only in protecting the nation’s integrity but also in its institutional, economic, and cultural reconstruction.
This approach is rooted in a strong, continuous identity. Physical distance does not weaken belonging; it can, in fact, clarify and express it in new ways.
Remote civic engagement makes the homeland a living, collective reality that transcends geography.
The ambassador’s call is neither symbolic nor emotional—it reflects a structured policy to position the diaspora as a pillar of national sovereignty, an active agent in rebuilding a more united, resilient, and self-determined Burkina Faso.
Olivier TOE
