CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE _____________________________________________________________________ In the medium and long term: • Promote the local autonomy of decentralised authorities through a substantial reform of decentralisation that is guided by: (i) a clarification of the rules on the sharing of powers between the state and local authorities based on the principles of self-divestment and the transfer of all powers and resources, both human and material, to local authorities; (ii) the establishment of regional hubs of administrative skills at the service of decentralised local authorities; (iii) the establishment of a bank of skills in each district; and (iv) the enhancement of the authority and control of local representatives at decentralised levels (government, decentralised entities, local elected officials). With regard to the rule of law and the primacy of the constitution: • Review the constitution so as to broaden referral to the Constitutional Council by the courts and, under certain conditions, by individuals, and submit the president of the Constitutional Council to the same statutory guarantees of independence that other members of this institution enjoy (i.e. a nine-year, nonrenewable mandate) (government, Parliament). • Increase the resources of the security forces and ensure better monitoring/evaluation by the community police (government). Objective 3: Promote and protect economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights as contained in all the African and international human rights instruments i. Summary of the CSAR 202. In Burkina Faso, the human rights situation is rather paradoxical in the sense that the abundance of human rights proclamations is in stark contrast to their ineffectiveness. Burkina Faso is a country that has formally committed itself to the enforcement of the various rights as stipulated in international conventions. Indeed, the state has not only constitutionalised these rights, but it has also ratified almost all of the international instruments establishing them. At the institutional level, a Ministry for the Promotion of Human Rights has been created. All these measures seem to reflect a genuine political will to promote and protect human rights. 203. However, when tested in practice, these rights remain largely theoretical as a result of a lack of effectiveness. This situation stems from several factors. The wording of some of the rights is the first limiting factor as regards their justiciability. Indeed, no accountability for producing results rests on the state. At most, the state is asked to show goodwill in the implementation of these rights. Furthermore, ignorance of these rights on the part of the majority of Burkina Faso people does not militate in favour of their effectiveness. In 110