In southern Senegal, young girls are changing the rules but progress is at risk
Senior Gender Advisor, Shreyasi Jha, reflects on her recent travel to Senegal where UNICEF is doing life-changing work with girls
I recently had the opportunity to travel to some of the most remote and economically marginalised parts of Senegal. Over four days, I visited the town of Medina Yoro Foula, in Kolda region and several other towns in the Sédhiou region. The land here is fertile but connectivity is poor. There aren’t many UN agencies or international aid organizations present. UNICEF has a field office in Kolda with nine staff members who work with the local government to deliver a host of services to improve the lives of women and children. The purpose of my visit was to understand ways in which UNICEF’s programmes have addressed the gender issues in the region, and to recommend how the office can integrate a gender lens into their programmes through a gender programmatic review.
Ramatoulaye, age 18, is one of the girls I met at Salmaïtou, an adolescent bootcamp that UNICEF runs with the local government in Medina Yoro Foula. Girls and boys enroll in a 3-month programme to learn digital, leadership and entrepreneurship skills.
In a region with a high rate of pregnant girls and girls married before the age of 15, the access to opportunities like this is more than simply about skills and employment prospects. The camp offers a safe space for girls to come together and to discuss issues relating to gender-based violence, sexual harassment, puberty and gender norms.
Together with her friends and with support from UNICEF-trained mentors and community mobilizers, Ramatoulaye aspires to complete her high school diploma and become an advocate for girls’ empowerment.
Her friend, Fatoumata, age 19, is an avid footballer and received her referee certification from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) through the program. However, the Salmaïtou project is small, and time bound, linked to a donor funded programme that will end in 2023. What happens next? How do we continue to support this generation of girls and boys to fulfill their potential, challenge harmful norms and become role models? How do we scale up and sustain this important work?
During my visit to Sédhiou region, I met a 14-year old girl who was 8 months pregnant. She was sexually assaulted by a relative. Without access to information or support, she found her way to Kulimaroo Center, a shelter in Ziguinchor. She is one of 11 pregnant teenagers there. The shelter is the only one of its kind in the entire region with a population of nearly 730,000. It is beset with resource constraints including a lack of adequate food, medicines and supplies to take care of the girls and their babies.
As they are out of school and without their families, these girls aren’t covered by social insurance of any kind. The nearest highway is almost two kilometers away. With limited transportation, they walk this distance while in labour to access the nearest health center. Sitting around in the shelter without much access to education and skills acquisition, their young bodies straining under the weight of pregnancy, these girls—and so many like them—have fallen through the cracks of the social protection and health systems that largely remain insensitive to the issues facing adolescent girls in the country.
The girls at the Salmaïtou bootcamp and those at Kulimaroo Center represent two different yet interconnected realities for girls in Senegal. At any given moment, they are one step away from dropping out of school, getting married and becoming pregnant, risks that all girls face in societies where prevalent norms hold them back, where poverty is high and economic opportunities are limited.
At the same time, they are proof of the immense possibilities when we support girls with platforms, skills, and opportunities. If UNICEF and Senegal are to ensure better lives for everyone in the country, we must collectively ensure that there are more girls like Ramatoulaye and Fatoumata. We cannot improve outcomes for children without addressing the most left behind girls and creating better pathways for them. Girls need to stay in school. They need access to skills that open economic opportunities for them. They need access to health and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights information and services. They need protection from gender-based violence. The UNICEF Gender Action Plan calls for an integrated approach to adolescent girls’ well-being. In Senegal, I saw firsthand what this integrated approach would look like in practice.
Most girls I met are ready and eager, but they cannot do this alone. They need the circles around them to support them.
We need to work with boys and men to raise a generation that believes in equal opportunities and can challenge existing sexist power structures. We must work with families who will break this cycle of pervasive gender norms. Most of all we need services—education, health and WASH—that are tailored to the needs of girls.
I returned from Senegal feeling optimistic but humbled with a tremendous sense of responsibility to buckle down on our gender equality commitments. Each time we design an intervention, strategy, or programme, I urge us all to consider – how will this improve the lives of Ramatoulaye, Fatoumata and millions of girls like them?
