Thanks to the generous support of the United Nations Association of New York, I will be living in Dakar for the next three months and working on the reproductive health team of the UNFPA Senegal Country Office. I will be using this blog to share and reflect upon some of the incredible projects I get to be a part of this summer.
In this post, I will introduce UNFPA and highlight three projects I was exposed to over the last two weeks: Paroles aux jeunes, FassE, and Yeksi Naa.
What is UNFPA?
With over 120 offices serving 156 countries and regions, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the world's largest multilateral organization supporting population and reproductive health programs.
There are four primary areas of work:
Sexual and reproductive health
Young people
Human rights and gender equality
Population matters
I am working at the Senegal Country Office, which supports each of these four pillars as they are executed domestically. At the country office level, there is an incredible mixture of projects - from grassroots activism to high level national policy making. I've been very fortunate to have had the chance to participate in a wide variety of these projects over the last two weeks - a sampling of which are highlighted below.
Paroles aux jeunes
"Donner la paroles aux jeunes" translates to "giving a voice to young people." Paroles aux jeunes is a local partner that works to elevate the voice of Senegalese youth through a mobile radio platform and social media. I had the privilege of attending two events and writing summary articles with the organization last week.
The first event took place at a youth entrepreneurship festival that highlighted the talent and creativity of local youth. The second event took place at an audition event for a new radio series called Paroles aux filles (Giving a voice to girls), which is produced in partnership with Plan International. My summary articles for each of the respective events can be found here and here (in French only).
Fass Émergent (FassE)
Fass Émergent, or FassE, is pilot project which aims to create the necessary conditions to capture the demographic dividend in urban commune of Gueule Tapée-Fass–Colobane. It is developed to be aligned with Senegal's key national development policy, the Plan Sénégal Émergent.
The demographic dividend is a new concept for me, but it is critical to the work of UNFPA. It essentially refers to a boost in economic growth which can occur when the ratio of working aged people to younger dependents increases through a reduction in the fertility rate. This is usually achieved through significant investment in reproductive health and family planning, coupled with robust education and employment programs. Learning about the demographic dividend allowed me to gain a more holistic understanding of the work of UNFPA.
This video below provides an excellent explanation for the essential conditions to capture to demographic dividend: empowerment, education, and employment.
FassE therefore attempts to capture this demographic dividend within a specific urban environment. This week there was a training session for newly elected municipal representatives on how to create gender sensitive budgets. Cécile Compaoré Zoungrana, the Resident Representative of UNFPA Senegal, spoke at the opening plenary about how FassE provides an excellent example of what it means to implement the Sustainable Development Goals at a local level.
Yeksi Naa
Yeksi Naa, which means "I have arrived" in Wolof, is medicine distribution strategy initiated by Senegal's Pharmacie Nationale d'Approvisionnement (PNA). This program allows the PNA to avoid stockouts of contraceptive medicines using an Informed Push Model of supply-chain management. This week, I had the enormous privilege of attending the meeting of the National Technical Committee where the state of implementation was reviewed and discussed among several national and international actors including the Senegalese Ministry of Health, IntraHealth, USAID, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
This meeting was fascinating for me and an incredible learning experience. Prior to attending the meeting, I was highly uninformed of the role of inadequate supply chain management in contributing to low modern contraceptive prevalence rate in Senegal. While culture, religion, and education all contribute to contraceptive practices, access also plays a large role that I had previously underestimated. The results of improved supply chain management through Yeksi Naa's Informed Push Model are quite impressive.
Concluding reflections
As a student of development practice, I am deeply interested in understanding how development initiatives are implemented at various levels. My previous work experience has been largely through grassroots advocacy and youth engagement, so it is incredibly interesting to build upon that experience at UNFPA. I was initially nervous that the work would feel more detached than I am used to, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the diversity of work that is done the Country Office level.
My experience in Senegal thus far has been outstanding. People here have been especially kind and welcoming, and I feel so privileged to have gotten the chance to learn more about Senegalese culture alongside my work at UNFPA.