Senegal
OVERVIEW
Senegal has progressed significantly in the past decade, both politically and economically. The country became eligible for Millennium Challenge Account funding due primarily to its strong commitment to ruling justly, investing in people, and promoting economic freedom. Senegal is a moderating voice in the Islamic and African worlds as a democratic, predominantly Muslim, but secular country. USAID assists Senegal in enhancing the productivity of its people and, in so doing, creating jobs for unemployed youth, improving access to education and health care, and further institutionalizing democracy.
PROGRAMS
PEACE AND SECURITY
After more than two decades of conflict, a peace process is gaining momentum in Senegal's southern Casamance region. USAID's Casamance program supports peace-building activities such as grassroots conflict resolution, peace process advocacy, and training to build local negotiation and conflict resolution skills. Additionally, USAID invests in youth as future leaders, by training young people in conflict resolution and providing them with leadership opportunities to share information with their communities.
GOVERNING JUSTLY AND DEMOCRATICALLY
While Senegal remains one of the few stable democracies in West Africa, it is increasingly becoming a highly centralized government where weak checks and balances undermine good governance. U.S. assistance will expand efforts to promote government-wide transparency and decrease executive influence on the legislature.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE: HEALTH
Substantial improvements have been made in the health sector over the previous decades, including a drop in infant and maternal mortality. In an effort to further decrease these rates, USAID supports birth spacing campaigns and prenatal care. To limit the spread of HIV/AIDS, USAID has worked to increase access to and use of quality health services, especially for high risk and vulnerable groups. In 2008, 48,578 people received HIV/AIDS counseling and testing. USAID also works to reduce malaria-related deaths by targeting children and pregnant women. USAID's malaria program distributed or sold over a million long-lasting insecticide-treated bednets and protected 645,000 people in nearly 155,000 households from malaria with insecticide residual spraying.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE: EDUCATION
Over 50 percent of Senegal's men and 70 percent of its women over 15 years old are illiterate. USAID is determined to ensure that future generations are literate and better prepared for the global marketplace through higher-quality middle school education and broader accessibility, especially for girls. By 2008, USAID had built or renovated 58 middle schools, allowing more than 25,000 new students to attend middle schools within walking distance of their homes. USAID also provided in-service training for 5,271 teachers, school principals, and trainers of teachers, and trained 3,793 new teachers in basic teaching techniques.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
With half of Senegal's youth unemployed, the country urgently needs growth, jobs, and the capacity to produce and manufacture goods rather than just trade them. USAID helps citizens generate income from local resources, connect to markets, and manage the country's natural resources. In 2003-08, USAID assisted 4,180 producers groups and private enterprises to market natural products (such as baobab, madd, and gum mbep) and nontraditional agricultural products (such as cashews and fonio) for national consumption and export markets. Nearly 3,600 groups were able to increase their revenues by more than 93 percent, and 1,700 new jobs were created.
The Global Food Security Response, launched in 2008, supports efforts to increase food productivity in Senegal and reduce barriers to the movement and procurement of food inside Senegal and to neighboring countries. Increased agriculture productivity and improved resource management will ensure pro-poor economic growth and greater rural food security. USAID is working with African and international private companies, along with local and international nongovernmental organizations, foundations, farmer organizations, and agricultural research and trade organizations to increase agricultural productivity and production through new technologies and management practices.
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