Providing women in Senegal with a forum to bring about change

In 2022-2023, all 25 partner organizations of WVL-Senegal (over $6.3 million, 2018-2023) focused on using innovative approaches to improve the range of services they provide to their beneficiaries. This helped to ensure they meet the specific needs of women, girls and the most vulnerable populations. 

For example, the Senegal chapter of the Forum for African Women Educationalists, one of WVL-Senegal’s partners, organized a forum and conference in 2 high schools in Dakar and Rufisque that focused on barriers related to child marriage. These activities increased the awareness of more than 600 students of the legal and medical consequences of child marriage and the urgent need to raise the age of marriage to 18. These initiatives led to recommendations being made to the National Education Ministry to integrate a gender-equality approach into national curricula, to set up violence watch and warning groups in schools, and to create groups to listen and provide advice to victims of violence. These recommendations have been accepted and are being implemented.