Women Making a Difference

Using Research to Advance Reproductive Health in West Africa

Dr. Nafissatou Diop

Source: Population Council

In her 13 years working in the field of international health and development, Dr. Nafissatou Diop has made her name as a dynamo in support of reproductive health – especially that of women and girls. She has provided vision and leadership in the struggle to abandon female genital cutting/mutilation (FGC/M), end early marriage, improve maternal care, and prevent HIV infection – not only in her native Senegal, but also in francophone West Africa and beyond.

Indicators in Senegal have improved, but they illustrate the huge reproductive health challenges of West Africa: high fertility rate (5.48 per woman), high maternal mortality rate (690 per 100,000 live births), low contraceptive prevalence rate (13 percent), and high fertility rate among girls aged 15 to 19, especially in rural areas (30 percent), according to the 2005 PRB/UNFPA Country Profiles for Population and Health.

As country representative of the Population Council in Senegal, Nafy directs USAID-funded research projects focused on reproductive health. Often in these settings, health care systems are overstretched and underfunded, and clients must travel many miles to seek services and cannot afford expensive treatments. Thus, identifying the best and most affordable ways to provide reproductive health services – and the policies to support them – is critical.

To that end, Nafy manages large research projects, coordinating a complex network that may include dozens of collaborators – government and Council staff, donors, community, religious, and youth leaders, researchers, and women's groups – and can affect thousands of people in the communities that take part. When the research is complete, Nafy and her staff work with program managers and policymakers to put the findings into practice.

This work has made important contributions to reproductive health in West Africa. Findings from research projects that Nafy led have not only influenced national policies, but enhanced reproductive health care for communities – the ultimate goal of the research. Evidence developed during a study on improving adolescent reproductive health in Senegal contributed to the establishment of a national adolescent health policy, the formation of nationally registered youth groups, and the integration of family life education into primary and secondary schools. The approach is being "exported" to other countries in and beyond French-speaking West Africa.

Nafy is also internationally known for her work on FGM/C. She has evaluated the village empowerment program, Tostan, in Senegal and Burkina Faso, and has conducted research in Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso clarifying the effects of government and nongovernment efforts to reduce support for female circumcision and early marriage. Additionally, she plays a leadership role with the World Health Organization and other international agencies in setting the agenda for improving reproductive health policies and programs in the developing world.

Nafy's work reflects her determination to address the imbalance of rights and power that puts so many African girls and women at risk.

"The girl who undergoes FGM/C is the same girl who is taken out of school early to marry," Nafy says. "And this is the same girl who dies before she reaches age 20, giving birth to her third child."

Story provided by the Population Council

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