Burkina Faso is located in Africa, in the West African sub‑region. It is a landlocked country situated on a savanna plateau and bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d’Ivoire to the southwest. The capital city is Ouagadougou, which is the seat of government and hosts the main national institutions. Burkina Faso is a unitary State. The current form of government is transitional, with executive authority exercised by a head of state and government institutions operating within an interim framework. 

Burkina Faso is party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Burkina Faso is also party to the 1969 OAU Convention governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and to the 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention).