Annex J8 - Senegal CDCS 2020-2025 Gender Analysis Final Report 05.04.2020.pdf

GENDER ANALYSIS FOR 2020 SENEGAL

CDCS DESIGN

APRIL 2020

This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Darcy Ashman and Awa Fall-Diop with Safyatou Diallo, Oumar Diatta, and Brian Calhoon for Management Systems International (MSI), A Tetra Tech Company.

PHOTO CREDIT: ARLS/DES. SUXALI JIGEEN INFORMATION AND AWARENESS MEETING

GENDER ANALYSIS FOR 2020 SENEGAL

CDCS DESIGN

Contracted underAID-685-C-15-00003

USAID/Senegal Monitoring and Evaluation Project

DISCLAIMER

The authors’ views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States

Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

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CONTENTS

ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................... III

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................... V REPORT PURPOSE .................................................................................................................................................. V DO 1: INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH ................................................................................................... VI DO 2: HUMAN CAPITAL/HEALTH ................................................................................................................ VII DO 3: EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE ................................................................... VIII MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING PRACTICES ............................................................. IX

REPORT PURPOSE

METHODOLOGY

REPORT STRUCTURE

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

DECLINING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

GENDER INTEGRATION GAPS IN PUBLIC POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COUNTRY PRIORITIES

DO 1: INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH

GENDER GAPS AND TRENDS

BARRIERS TO ECONOMIC GENDER EQUALITY AND DIFFERENTIAL NEEDS TO REDUCE

GAPS

COUNTRY POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DO 1: INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH

DO 2: HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT/HEALTH SECTOR

GENDER GAPS AND TRENDS

BARRIERS AND DIFFERENTIAL NEEDS TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE

COUNTRY POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DO 2: HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT/HEALTH

DO 2: HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT/EDUCATION

GENDER GAPS AND TRENDS

BARRIERS AND DIFFERENTIAL NEEDS TO REDUCE GENDER GAPS

COUNTRY POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DO 2: HUMAN CAPITAL/EDUCATION

DO 3: EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE

GENDER GAPS AND TRENDS

BARRIERS AND DIFFERENTIAL NEEDS TO REDUCE GENDER GAPS

COUNTRY POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DO 3: EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE

MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING FOR GENDER AND

INCLUSION

MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING PRACTICES

ANNEX 1: SCOPE OF WORK

ANNEX II: REFERENCES

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ANNEX III: INTERVIEW RESPONDENTS

ANNEX IV: LEARNING AGENDA AND GENDER INDICATORS

LEARNING AGENDA QUESTIONS

GENDER OUTCOME INDICATORS

ANNEX V: GENDER INTEGRATED COVID-19 RESPONSES

ANNEX VI: SELECTED DONOR PROJECTS IN GENDER EQUALITY AND

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

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ACRONYMS

AME Association of Pupils' Mothers

AMELP Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan

AOR Agreement Officer’s Representative

CCIEF Framework for Coordination of Interventions on Girls' Education

CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy

COR Contracting Officer’s Representative

DEEG Directorate of Gender Equity and Equality

DHS Demographic Health Survey

DO Development Objective

EGO Economic Growth Office

FtF Feed the Future

GEFE Gender Equality and Female Empowerment

GBV Gender-Based Violence

IMF International Monetary Fund

J2SR Journey to Self-Reliance

MAGR Ministry of Agriculture

MEL Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

MEN Ministry of Education

MSAS Ministry of Health and Social Action

MSI Management Systems International

MWASH Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

MWFG Ministry of Women, Family, and Gender

PAD Project Appraisal Document

PRM Program Office

SNEEG National Strategy for Gender Equality and Equity

USAID United States Agency for International Development

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WEEE Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment

W-GDP Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative

WIC Women’s Investment Club

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

REPORT PURPOSE

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Senegal is preparing its new Country

Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for 2020–2025 in alignment with USAID’s policy framework on promoting self-reliance and ending the need for foreign assistance. In accordance with ADS 201, ADS

205, and the U.S. Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment (WEEE) Act of 2018, the mission requires a gender analysis to identify country-level gender gaps, issues, barriers, and opportunities for the new CDCS.

This gender analysis updates the mission’s 2017 gender analysis report, consistent with USAID gender policies and strategies on pursuing more effective, evidence-based investments in gender equality and female empowerment and incorporating these efforts into USAID’s core development programming, including The Gender Equality and Female Empowerment (GEFE) Policy, the WEEE Act, and others.1

This updated report provides new information, analysis, and recommendations based on changes in the country context and new USAID policies on self-reliance and women’s economic empowerment. The mission should use both reports for the new CDCS.

COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT

The three major gender gaps and issues that USAID/Senegal’s next CDCS should address include women’s declining economic opportunities relative to men’s, gender-based violence (GBV), and gender integration gaps in public policies, budgets, and institutions. In Senegal, the factors of poverty, rural or peri-urban location, and in some instances, ethnic group membership affect the severity of gender gaps. Poor rural and peri-urban men, youth, and all disabled persons also experience unequal access to development opportunities and should be included in USAID/Senegal programming.

Corresponding recommendations for mission-wide priorities at the country level include increasing women’s economic empowerment, strengthening GBV services and implementation of anti-GBV policies and action plans, and coordinating with ministry gender offices to augment financial and technical resources to implement gender policies and build regional capacity in sectors of mutual interest, such as local governance, agriculture, water and sanitation, and education. Holistic cross-sectoral approaches are recommended to transform stubborn interrelated barriers to gender equality and support country actors to make further progress toward sustainable, inclusive development.

The COVID-19 pandemic emerged as this report was being finalized. Early warnings suggest that Sub-

Saharan African countries will be among the hardest-hit regions, requiring years to overcome the negative health and economic impacts2. Moreover, current gender gaps in public health and governance will worsen unless governments and development partners apply a gender lens to inform equitable and inclusive response strategies3. In Senegal, the new USAID CDCS should give heightened importance to the recommendations offered in the report below to improve gender equity in the management of the health

1 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3247/text 2 https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/26/africa-coronavirus-pandemic-economic-crisis; https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2020/03/20/coronavirus-amid-the-global-pandemic-lessons-for-africa 3 https://womendeliver.org/covid-19-response/ https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3247/text https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/26/africa-coronavirus-pandemic-economic-crisis/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2020/03/20/coronavirus-amid-the-global-pandemic-lessons-for-africa https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2020/03/20/coronavirus-amid-the-global-pandemic-lessons-for-africa https://womendeliver.org/covid-19-response/

USAID.GOV SENEGAL GENDER ANALYSIS | vi sector, increase access to health care and to improve GBV prevention and response services. Additional specific suggestions for COVID-19 actions may be found in Annex V.

DO 1: INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH

Since the 2017 gender analysis report, the gender gap in the economic sector has continued to worsen, whereas gaps in politics, health, and education have either narrowed slightly or stayed about the same.4

At .55, the 2020 gender gap in economic opportunity has declined by .08 since 2016 and .086 since 2009.

Among the four sectors, the economic gender gap is the second largest in the country. Only political participation and opportunity is larger at .32. Senegal’s economy is growing at about 6 percent per year, so the worsening gender gap means that men are benefiting relatively more from growth while women are falling farther behind. Other indicators provide further evidence of women’s relative economic disempowerment in Senegal, including labor force participation, occupational gender differences, unemployment, informal employment in agriculture, the estimated value of women’s unpaid household care work, and gaps in the legal framework. Women of all ages in poor rural areas experience larger gender gaps than their counterparts in urban areas; poor men of all ages and disabled persons of both genders are also disadvantaged economically.

These gender and inclusion gaps are caused by interrelated factors that include poverty, residence in rural and peri-urban areas, complex sociocultural gender norms, and discriminatory laws and policies that limit women’s access to and control over productive assets such as land and capital. Low literacy rates in rural areas (32 percent for women and 46 percent for men) limit participation in the formal economy. Women’s and girls’ relative lack of access to secondary and tertiary education further limits their economic opportunities.

Women’s and men’s differential needs for economic participation are best addressed through holistic approaches that enable women to access productive resources and engage men in understanding the value of increased women’s participation in households, communities, and institutions. The gender offices in the

Ministries of Agriculture, Water and Sanitation, and others concerned with finance, employment, and the economy have prioritized gender program and capacity-building priorities that align with USAID Economic

Growth Office (EGO) sector priorities.

Recommendations include the following:

1. Coordinate with the central gender offices in the Ministry of Agriculture (MAGR); the Ministry of

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (MWASH); and others to ensure that the gender offices are included in sector-wide cooperation and to implement key ministry priorities, such as allocating 15 percent of rehabilitated land or 20 percent of certain seeds to women, expanding a successful pilot to construct improved female restrooms, or helping train regional gender focal points.

2. Ensure that Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP) activities achieve significant economic empowerment outcomes when implementation begins. Given the innovative nature of the activities, close monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive implementation will be needed to ensure that the objectives do not slip to lower-impact activities that conform to traditional gender roles and provide smaller financial resources.

4 Global Gender Gap Report (2020). World Economic Forum.

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3. Realign the gender strategies of Feed the Future (FtF) activities and other EGO activities with the higher-impact gender strategies of FtF and the W-GDP that transform gender roles and substantially improve women’s incomes and control over assets. Women should receive the financial and technical support to form viable income-generating activities and business with the potential to grow over the long term and bring financial returns to women and their families.

4. EGO should integrate successful local models of rural women’s economic empowerment and organization (e.g., ARLS/DES) into agriculture, fisheries, and WASH activities.

DO 2: HUMAN CAPITAL/HEALTH

Senegal’s gender gap in health has improved slightly since the 2017 report—at .976, it is near parity. Health areas of concern to USAID—maternal mortality, child (under 5) stunting, and the fertility rat—all improved, whereas child and neonatal mortality and malaria incidence rates worsened. The adolescent maternal mortality rate is double that of women above the age of 19. Fewer than 6 percent of women made informed decisions about sexual relations, use of contraception, and reproductive health. The data reviewed for this analysis indicate that services for GBV (including spousal abuse, child marriage, and female genital mutilation/cutting), HIV/AIDS, and youth reproductive health are not sufficiently addressed by the Ministry of Health and Social Action (MSAS) and USAID.

Recommendations include the following:

1. Strengthen coordination with the MSAS gender units at central and regional levels to increase effectiveness and decrease duplication of USAID efforts. Coordination should ensure that the health needs of all women and vulnerable groups are addressed. GBV, HIV/AIDS, and youth services, especially for the rural and peri-urban poor, must be improved.

2. Expand effective technical approaches to transform cultural gender norms and stigma that limit access to health care for women, families, and vulnerable groups. Good examples include USAID’s Japp naa ci, Nijaayu gox, and Moytu nef campaigns, along with the pilot husbands’ schools run by the government in cooperation with UNFPA.

3. Expand effective technical approaches to increase women’s access to and control over economic resources for health care, such as expanding community mobilization initiatives and women’s access to and participation in management of the health mutual insurance associations.

DO 2: Human Capital/Education

The gender gap in education has improved slightly to .889 since the 2017 gender analysis, but the basic structure of gender gaps remains the same—primary enrollment gender gaps favor girls, but they do not continue through secondary or tertiary levels, where gender gaps favor boys. Reasons for girls’ lower access to education include poverty, GBV in schools, lack of infrastructure in rural areas, and cultural gender norms in some areas that favor early marriage even though it is not legal. Pregnancy and the stigma of unmarried girls giving birth also keep girls out of school despite laws against such discrimination.

Recommendations include the following:

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1. Strengthen coordination with the Ministry of Education (MEN) to include the central gender office.

Continue coaching in teacher training and gender-sensitive textbooks. Expand gender-focused support to include gender parity and capacity development plans. Institute a system for combating GBV in schools, in coordination with local authorities.

2. Continue/expand coordination with country actors to implement holistic approaches to improve access to education. Ensure that current interventions are carefully monitored and evaluated so that gender issues such as GBV are addressed in “safe school” and life skills initiatives. Coordinate with health;

economic; and democracy, rights, and governance (DRG) sectors as warranted to increase gender-sensitive reproductive health and GBV prevention services for adolescents in secondary schools. Also, expand the use of female restroom “boxes” piloted by MWASH and explore private sector approaches to providing safe and affordable local transportation to schools, including opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

3. Improve access to tertiary education for girls and women in subjects leading to economically rewarding occupations. Should funds for tertiary education become available, coordinate with the Directorate of

Gender Equity and Equality (DEEG) to identify the fields, industries, and associated ministry gender cells that have action plans to increase access for women and girls in professional, managerial, and/or technical roles in public and private sectors.

DO 3: EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE

The gender gap in political participation and opportunity has improved slightly to .32 since the 2017 report, and the gender ratio among elected officials at national and local legislative levels remains near parity, about 43% national and 47% local. A significant gender gap in other local elected positions remains. As often occurs in early stages of gender parity, an increase in backlash against elected women has been reported, creating a negative, if not hostile, environment for elected women and other women who consider running for office. Gender parity in all levels of public sector institutions is a top priority for the government, according to the DEEG in the Ministry of Women, Family, and Gender (MWFG). Currently, males dominate most top- and mid-level decision-making and management positions. The midterm evaluation for the USAID GoLD activity found that women’s participation was far more evident in civic forums than in local government units and that gender considerations were not evident in local development plans.

Recommendations include the following:

1. Expand coordination with the Ministry of Local Governance to a more strategic level to include the central gender office and the USAID sector team. This coordination should lead to opportunities for

USAID to support efforts to increase the gender balance in and gender responsiveness of local government authorities and management committees.

2. Engage the DEEG in regular dialogue to identify opportunities for USAID partnership such as policy reform and implementation on critical issues such as GBV; women, peace, and security; or gender discrimination in laws and regulations for the private sector.

3. Expand support for Senegalese women’s organizations to lead rural women’s economic and political empowerment. All USAID sectors involve local women’s organizations in improving services, increasing economic resources, and influencing governance. Ministries also understand the importance of mobilizing

USAID.GOV SENEGAL GENDER ANALYSIS | ix these groups and strengthening their capacities. The USAID DRG Office should lead a crosscutting group within USAID to share contacts and resources to strengthen the mission’s technical approach to supporting local women’s organizations. Specifically, USAID should extend the direct partnership with

ARLS/DES to responsibly scale up their programs in women’s economic and political empowerment and to continue sharing their model and expertise with other women’s organizations involved in USAID activities.

MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING PRACTICES

The program office should work with sector teams to make gender integration more effective, in accordance with USAID policies, in the following areas:

1. Integrate gender and inclusion more into activity designs, requests for proposals/assistance (RFP/As), work plans, and Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plans (AMELPs). Currently, the prescribed link in ADS 205 between the CDCS, Project Appraisal Documents (PADs), and activity design in solicitations and implementation is not being made systematically. USAID/Senegal should require proposals to include gender-related objectives, results (including indicators and targets), and interventions. Include gender in the theory of change and results framework. Provide illustrative examples of interventions and outcomes in solicitations. Gender strategies should be visible, measurable, and meaningful.

2. Expand the working concept of gender to encompass gender and inclusion. Require gender analysis to be intersectional—for example, disaggregate gender by other important factors such as income, urban/rural location, and disability. Require proposals to incorporate measures to include disadvantaged groups such as persons with disabilities. Require post-award gender and inclusion action plans, where used, to be integrated across components in work plans and AMELP indicators and data collection approaches.

3) Agreement and contracting officer representatives (A/CORs) should monitor and evaluate gender and inclusion progress. Gender and inclusion should constitute a regular topic in A/COR monitoring as

A/CORs are the primary technical contact for the activity. They should coordinate as needed with gender focal points in the sector and in the program office to require systematic review and reporting on gender and inclusion progress. All evaluations should be required to incorporate a gender and inclusion lens.

4. The Program Office (PRM) and the Mission Gender Working Group should convene regular cross-sector and cross-activity exchange and learning events to improve knowledge, skills, coordination, and synergy among activities and technical staff in USAID, IPs, and country partners.

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REPORT PURPOSE

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Senegal is preparing its new Country

Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for 2020–2025 in alignment with USAID’s policy framework on promoting self-reliance and ending the need for foreign assistance.5 In accordance with ADS 201, ADS

205, and the U.S. Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment (WEEE) Act of 2018, the mission requires a gender analysis to identify country-level gender gaps, issues, barriers, and opportunities for the new CDCS.

This gender analysis updates the mission’s 2017 gender analysis report, consistent with USAID gender policies and strategies on pursuing more effective, evidence-based investments in gender equality and female empowerment and incorporating these efforts into USAID’s core development programming, which includes the Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy; the WEEE Act;6 the Women, Peace, and Security Act;7 the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally; the U.S.

Government Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls Globally; the USAID Vision for Ending Child Marriage and Meeting the Needs of Married Children; Youth Policy; the Women’s Global Development and

Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP)8; the USAID Disability Policy; the USAID Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and/or Intersex Vision for Action; and the USAID Counter-Trafficking in Persons Policy.

This updated report provides new information, analysis, and recommendations based on changes in the country context and new USAID policies on self-reliance and women’s economic empowerment. The mission should use both reports for the new CDCS.

METHODOLOGY

The gender analysis was conducted from January to March 2020 by two senior gender specialists with staff support from the Senegal Monitoring and Evaluation Project (MEP) and Management Systems International

(MSI) home office in data collection, analysis, and logistics. Methods included a desk review of research and USAID program documents (Annex 2) and in-country interviews with USAID sector teams, implementing partners (IPs), and country stakeholders in gender equality (Annex 3). To address Journey to Self-Reliance (J2SR) policy objectives, the team interviewed key ministry officials responsible for gender policy planning and implementation. Feedback from USAID/Senegal on an interim report and presentation of preliminary findings has been incorporated into the final report.

5 USAID’s policy framework includes Ending the Need for Foreign Assistance and the Journey to Self-Reliance (J2SR)

(https://www.usaid.gov/policyframework). J2SR recognizes that self-reliant systems are inclusive and open to a wide array of individuals and groups, especially women, youth, and marginalized or vulnerable populations, and these systems benefit when all individuals participate in them.

6 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3247/text

7 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1141 8 https://www.whitehouse.gov/wgdp/ https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3247/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1141

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REPORT STRUCTURE

The report mirrors the CDCS, providing gender analysis and recommendations at the country level and for each development objective (DO) by sector. A final section provides recommendations for monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), including indicators for recommended programming.

Each major section includes four subsections to address USAID requirements for gender analysis and J2SR policy: updates on key gender gaps and issues, analysis of barriers causing these gender gaps and differential gender and inclusion needs, relevant country policies and institutions, and recommendations for

USAID/Senegal to enhance country efforts to reduce gender gaps and increase development opportunities for women and other disadvantaged groups.

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

This section highlights major country-level gender gaps and issues that USAID should address in the new

CDCS. Each gap or issue—relating to a Country Roadmap Indicator of economic gender gap, safety and security, or government effectiveness—is a major concern to gender stakeholders in Senegal and central to the country’s J2SR.

DECLINING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN

The most salient trend in gender equality scores in the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 (the source of the economic gender gap indicator in the Country Roadmap) is the decline in women’s economic participation and opportunity. Senegal’s overall score of .68—covering economy, politics, health, and education—ranks it 99th of 153 countries, behind 65 percent of these countries.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 scores for economic (.55) and political (.32) sectors are far greater than in education (.997) and health (.97). At .55, Senegal’s score on women’s economic participation and opportunity has fallen .08 since 2016. This score ranks Senegal much closer to the bottom, 128th of 153, behind 84 percent of other countries—a below-average score for low- and middle-income countries.

The declining economic gender gap is occurring in the context of Senegal’s growing economy, estimated by the African Development Bank at above 6 percent per year since 2015. This means that the country’s growth benefits men relative to women. This imbalance can be explained by macroeconomic policies that promote exports and industries such as agribusiness and oil and gas that do not employ many women.

Intrinsic barriers to gender equality in Senegal’s legal and sociocultural environment for business also limit women’s opportunities in employment and entrepreneurship (World Bank 2020; Women, Business, and

Law Index). These factors are discussed in greater detail in the section on DO 1: Inclusive Economic

Growth.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Safety and security, a Country Roadmap Indicator, extends to males and females, yet gender-based violence (GBV) is not included in the source index despite U.S. government and USAID policies to prevent and respond to GBV. Obtaining accurate data on GBV is a challenge worldwide due to cultural sensitivities

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and the lack of resources for collecting systematic data to determine prevalence and trends.9 Yet sufficient evidence of GBV in Senegal warrants concerted action by country actors and international partners such as the UN and USAID. Selected newer evidence includes the following:

• Seventy-eight percent of Senegalese women experience GBV during their lifetimes.10

• In 2017, 24 percent of Senegalese women aged 15–49 experienced spousal abuse. Rates vary by region from 16 percent to 42 percent. The higher rates of 30–42 percent are in the South and

Fatick, whereas Ziguinchor, Thiès, and Kaffrine fall in the middle at 24–29 percent. By comparison, the average rate for Sub-Saharan Africa is 44 percent.11

• Attitudes toward spousal abuse are changing. Although more women (36 percent) than men (28 percent) in 2017 still agreed a man has the right to beat his wife, the rate for women has fallen sharply (by 24 percent) since 2015, whereas the percentage of men has risen slightly (by 3 percent).12 The number of women who agreed fell in every region, perhaps as a result of government and civil society educational campaigns which resonate with the harm they experience. One reason for the increase in men who agree could be the influence of some religious groups. GBV campaign messaging should be reviewed to identify ways to improve its influence on men.

• A 2019 national study reported 31 women murdered, 362 rape cases filed, 706 women sexually assaulted, and 24 percent of girls having experienced sexual violence in primary and secondary schools.13 This followed a qualitative study on middle and secondary schools in 2018 by Human

Rights Watch.14

Senegal is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating child marriage by 203015.

National early marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) rates have changed little between

2015 and 2017 (the most recent DHS statistics). The early marriage rate fell slightly from 31% to 28.8% and the rate of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) remained 24%. These national rates mask substantial regional variation: early marriage ranges from 9.1% in Dakar to 65.6% in Kolda, while FGM/C ranges from 0.6% in Diourbel to 91% in Kédougou. The highest rates of both early marriage and FGM/C are in the five Southern regions of Kédougou, Kolda, Sédhiou, Ziguinchor, and Tambacounda.

Early marriage rates are higher than the national average in the Center regions of Kaolack, Kaffrine and

Diourbel (50.5%, 32%, and 39.3%). The drivers of early marriage include cultural gender norms, economic pressures, customary laws which permit girls under the age of 18 to be married, and a lack of awareness of the harms to girls such as greatly increased health risks to young mothers.

FGM rates have decreased by 2.9% in the South and increased by 6.9% in the North (Louga, Matam, St.

Louis), while rates in other regions have remained about the same. Donor interventions and internal migration could be factors, but further study is needed to explain these changes. FGM rates vary substantially by ethnic group, with the highest – and increasing rates among the Mandingue (74.7%), 9 https://data.em2030.org/2018-global-advocates-survey; https://www.ifes.org/sites/default/files/violence_politics_and_gender.pdf 10 Global Gender Gap Report 2020, Senegal 11 ANSD, EDSC (2017); https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/903/htm.

12 DHS 2017

13 Economic, Social and Environmental Council (2019) General Annual Report.

14 https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/10/18/its-not-normal/sexual-exploitation-harassment-and-abuse-secondary-schools-senegal 15 Save the Children. Child Marriage in Senegal.

https://data.em2030.org/2018-global-advocates-survey/ https://www.ifes.org/sites/default/files/violence_politics_and_gender.pdf https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/10/18/its-not-normal/sexual-exploitation-harassment-and-abuse-secondary-schools-senegal

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Soninke (63.3%), Diola (58.6%), which increased by an average of 3.6%. The rate among the Pular is also high (49.3%). In contrast, rates among the Wolof and Serer are about 1% or less.

The drivers of FGM/C are ethnic and religious community or social gender beliefs and expectations regarding sexuality and marriage. FGM/C typically occurs at very young ages, with the majority of girls cut by age 1, and over 70% cut by age 416. However, a recent study found the highest risk among 15-20 year old age group17.

Interventions which target community level behavior change, like those implemented by Tostan that involve community declarations to stop FGM/C, are thought to be effective because they change social norms and related behaviors. Such interventions should be scaled up in targeted regions to achieve more substantial change and reduce rates.

COUNTRY POLICIES ON GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Since 2017, the government—through the National Assembly; the Ministry of Women, Family, and Gender

(MWFG); and the Ministry of Health and Social Action (MSAS)—has strengthened its commitment to addressing GBV:

• The MWFG issued the Multisectoral Action Plan on GBV (2017–2021). UN Women and other donors support this action plan’s implementation, but no impact evaluations have been conducted to determine the effectiveness of implementation. MSAS has taken the lead on improving GBV services in health care systems. USAID has provided support to develop manuals and training, but no evaluations of GBV service delivery have been conducted.

Two very recent National Action Plans address compelling country issues and are in the early phase of implementation:

• The National Assembly passed the Law on Rape and Pedophilia (December 2019), with a comprehensive action plan developed by a government–civil society task force announced on

March 8, 2020.

• A new National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (2020–2025) addresses GBV in conflict and crisis zones and seeks to increase women’s leadership in peace processes.

GENDER INTEGRATION GAPS IN PUBLIC POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

The Country Roadmap Indicator for effective government should extend to integrating gender equality into public policies, budgets, and institutions. Leading country actors in promoting gender equality indicated that Senegal has substantial political will to advance gender equality but faces limited financial resources and technical capacity for implementation and accountability. Partnerships with international donors such as the UN and USAID are welcomed.

16 Kandala and Duncan 2019 Trends in female genital mutilation/cutting in Senegal: what can we learn?

https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-018-0907-9

17 Ibid.

https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-018-0907-9

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Since 2017, the Senegalese government, through the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Planning and the

Directorate of Gender Equity and Equality (DEEG) in the MWFG, has issued new policies, allocated budgets, and expanded institutional capacity to integrate gender at all levels. Respondents reported that the policies and additional resources have strengthened the capacity of the gender staff within the gender units, provided them with greater autonomy, and increased their leadership within ministry departments.

The resources are still insufficient to carry out their mandates, but the gender staff interviewed are encouraged by these recent developments. Key policies include the following:

• Gender Equality and Equity Strategy (SNEEG 2, 2016–2026). The strategy seeks to eliminate inequalities between women and men, guaranteeing women’s rights and ensuring their full participation in decision-making bodies and equitable access to resources and benefits of development. Objectives include creating an enabling sociocultural, legal, and economic institutional environment and institutionalizing gender in all public institutions at central and decentralized levels.

• The Multi-Year Expenditure Programming Document (DPPD) of the Ministry of Economy

Finance and Planning to operationalize gender-sensitive budgeting. In 2019 the budget allocated

CFA 180 million, or 10 million to each of 18 targeted ministries. In 2020, the total budget was increased to CFA 320 million, or 10 million to all 32 ministries.

• Plan Senegal Emergent 2 (PSE 2), Chapter 3, Governance, addresses gender equality in public policies and institutions, especially at local levels, by promoting gender-sensitive budgets and strengthening transparency and accountability.

Current officials report that central gender offices are strong but that many regional gender focal points lack capabilities to do their jobs effectively. The work plans of all gender offices interviewed include training in integrating gender into planning and budgeting for regional staff, but the officials acknowledged that they lacked adequate resources to fully implement the training. Two examples of workplans are included in

Annex VI.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COUNTRY PRIORITIES

“Women are actors in development, not only beneficiaries.”

Ms. Maty Ndoye, Coordinator of the Gender Cell, Ministry of Local Governance

This section recommends topline mission-wide outcomes to reduce these critical gender gaps and improve inclusive development opportunities. As Senegalese respondents noted, gender equality and women’s empowerment are achieved through holistic efforts by women and men over the long-term.

Cross-sector approaches are needed to reduce stubborn barriers to gender equality and increase development opportunities for all. Responsibility for each of the three main outcomes should be housed in a primary sector with key contributions from related sectors. More specific sector-level gender analysis and recommendations for program priorities and approaches are provided in the following sections of the report. The PRM should ensure coordination and MEL to capture progress and lessons learned.

1. Women’s economic empowerment increased.

• Housed in the Economic Growth Office (EGO). Focus on women’s entrepreneurship, rural income generation, increased access to productive resources, technical/managerial job training, and private sector legal/regulatory reforms.

• Sector contributions: Office of Democracy, Rights, Governance, and Peace (DRGP) in

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women’s leadership and organization and policy/legal reform; Departments of Health and

Education in improving access to health and education services.

• USAID/Senegal Country Roadmap Indicator: Economic Gender Gap.

• USAID GEWE Policy Outcome 1: Increased access to and control over productive resources.

2. GBV prevention and response systems strengthened.

• Housed in the Department of Health: Increased support to improve MSAS GBV and youth services.

• Sector contributions: Department of Education to increase attention to GBV in access to education; DRGP support for government and civil society policy implementation.

• Program office: Identify additional opportunities through the Donor Working Group on

Gender, coordinated by UN Women, which supports implementation of the Multisectoral

Action Plan on GBV.

• USAID/Senegal Country Roadmap Indicator (recommended): Safety and Security.

• USAID GEWE Policy Outcome 2: Reduced GBV through increased prevention and response.

3. Gender integration in public policies, budgets, and institutions improved. Includes increased numbers and effectiveness of women’s leadership.

• Housed in DRGP: Coordinate with DEEG and Ministry of Local Government gender office to support increased gender parity, gender-responsive budgets, and local capacity building.

• Sector contributions: EGO and Departments of Health and Education coordinate with gender offices of relevant ministries to ensure efficient support for gender integration and capacity building.

• USAID/Senegal Country Roadmap Indicator (recommended): Government Effectiveness.

• USAID GEWE Policy Outcome 3: Increased capability of women and girls to influence decision making.

THEORY OF CHANGE

Although much progress remains to be achieved, Senegal has improved gender gaps in education, health and political participation due to successful policies and investments in increasing women’s and girls’ access to health and education, and in mandating gender parity in elected offices at national and local levels.

These and other international successes provide the basis for key factors in an overarching gender equality theory of change: political will/leadership, sound policies and plans, financial resources and technical capacity to implement the policies and plans, engagement of civil society and the private sector, and effective communication to transform traditional gender norms18.

18 UNFPA and UNICEF propose similar factors driving the theory of change for the current UNFPA-UNICEF program to end child marriage 2020-2023. https://www.unicef.org/protection/unfpa-unicef-global-programme-end-child-marriage

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The key gap – and opportunity for USAID to invest in sustainable country-owned progress towards gender equality over the next five years is in supporting the country-led implementation of the sound policies that now exist. A good example of effective country leadership in social norm/behavior change is the work led by the Ministry of Child Protection to address the issue of street children. USAID should provide financial and technical resources to expand implementation of government and civil society led action plans and initiatives. USAID should also provide financial and technical support for the monitoring and evaluation of these efforts so that the country can identify and expand the most effective programs.

The gender-responsive theory of change for the next CDCS period should focus on this key opportunity and incorporate these key factors, for example:

If Senegal country actors across key sectors in the economy, health, education and governance invest political will and sufficient financial and technical resources provided by the government and development partners in the widespread implementation of existing sound gender policies and plans, and if implementation includes culturally effective communication messaging to transform inequitable gender norms, then the country will be more likely to make holistic progress towards gender equality in all development sectors.

DO 1: INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH

This section covers gender gaps, analysis, country policies, and institutions in the economy and USAID subsectors of agriculture, water and sanitation, and entrepreneurship. Recommendations for USAID programming in these sectors will enhance the country’s efforts to increase economic opportunities for women and the rural poor.

GENDER GAPS AND TRENDS

Senegal’s overall score of .55 in economic participation and opportunity is based on the sub-indicators of labor force participation (.66, ranking Senegal 125th of 153 countries), estimated earned income (.46, ranking 126), and occupational differences (.30 among legislators, senior officials, and managers and about

.5 among professional and technical workers, ranking Senegal 112th and 127th, respectively). Senegal has three times as many male legislators, senior officials, and managers as female and twice the number of male professional and technical workers as female.

Gender inequality must be understood in the context of overall economic inequality, which is stagnating despite the country’s positive growth trends and may worsen due to the effects of COVID-19.19 The

World Bank reports a national poverty level of nearly 47 percent in 2011 (the most recent year for which data are available). The benefits of growth skew to males over females, urban over rural and peri-urban residents, and abled over disabled persons.

19 https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/senegal/overview.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/senegal/overview

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Women’s rising unemployment led to rising overall unemployment despite a decline in men’s unemployment. Women’s unemployment rose from 7 percent in 2017 to 7.6 percent in 2019, whereas men’s unemployment fell from about 6.1 percent to 5.8 percent.20

Gender-based job segregation and differential impacts show gender and lower-skill economic gaps (DHS

2017, 2015):

• From 2015 to 2017, agricultural employment declined more for women than for men—by 3.5 percent for women versus 1 percent for men.

• From 2015 to 2017, both men (6 percent) and women (7 percent) shifted from skilled to unskilled labor; however, unskilled labor rose for men (17 percent) much more than for women

(2 percent). Women appear to have shifted to sales and service employment, which rose by 7 percent.

• In 2017, more women worked in sales and services (42 percent) whereas more men worked in agriculture (31 percent) and unskilled labor (27 percent).

Women’s businesses in Senegal tend to be very small microenterprises.21 Women are economically disadvantaged in agriculture, fisheries, and water and sanitation. The latest available data, as cited in the

2017 gender analysis report, indicate that women are concentrated in subsistence agriculture. Observers note the increasing trend of women marketing vegetables throughout the country. Women produce more than 80 percent of all subsistence crops but manage only 6 percent of farms and control only 6 percent of cultivated land.22 Women’s role in fisheries is limited to very small-scale processing. Women and girls in rural areas are usually responsible for household water and sanitation, but they lack the services and income to meet their household needs. However, men dominate the businesses involved in improving the water and sanitation sector, so men benefit disproportionately from private sector support in this sector.

The value of women’s unpaid work to care for households and families in Senegal has been estimated at

30 percent of GDP.23 To demonstrate the significance of the issue, global initiatives have begun measuring the value of such work. Oxfam estimates the value globally at $10.3 trillion and finds that rural women in countries such as Senegal spend five times more hours on unpaid work than men do. The UN estimates that the national GDP proportion constituted by women’s unpaid labor varies from 10 percent to 39 percent globally.

The USAID W-GDP 3 pillar framework highlights the importance of an enabling environment for women to access economic resources and opportunities. The World Bank Women, Business, and the Law Index24 tracks gender gaps in the legal and cultural environment in eight indicators related to access to jobs and businesses. Senegal’s score for 2020 is 63.8/100, which is below average for Sub-Saharan African countries.

Senegal’s two lowest scores are in pay equity (25) and control over assets (40). No laws in Senegal mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value, nor do any laws censure discrimination based on gender in hiring, promotions, or dismissal. Discrimination in access to finance based on gender or marital

20 https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Senegal/Female_unemployment/. Overall unemployment rose from about 6.4 percent in

2017 to 6.5 percent in 2019.

21 Interview, Women’s Investment Club, March 23, 2020.

22 Fall-Diop, A. et al., “Gender Assessment of the Agriculture Sector,” USAID Senegal (2016).

23Dramani, L. (2014). Unpaid Domestic Work in Senegal. Etudes et recherches du CREFAT.

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/csw61/redistribute-unpaid-work.

24 https://wbl.worldbank.org https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Senegal/Female_unemployment/ https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/csw61/redistribute-unpaid-work

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status is not prohibited by law and the constitution does not formally recognize or prohibit discrimination against women that may result from customary laws.25

BARRIERS TO ECONOMIC GENDER EQUALITY AND DIFFERENTIAL NEEDS

TO REDUCE GAPS

Current analyses of economic gender gaps emphasize interrelationships among key factors rather than isolated single factors as gender gaps are created and reinforced by multiple social, economic, and political structures and systems. Accordingly, solutions must also target critical interrelated factors. In Senegal, the key factors creating barriers for women to increase their incomes and assets lie in sociocultural gender norms, attitudes, and behaviors; poverty and the lack of economic opportunities especially in rural and peri-urban areas, ; the lack of access to financial services and discriminatory laws and customs related to economic decision making and access to resources. Citing Senegal as a case study, IMF authors recently framed these interrelated factors as the “gender poverty trap” (2019).

Sociocultural gender norms underpin many barriers: they prescribe women’s roles in unpaid household care, subsistence agriculture, and lower-paying jobs and occupations in the formal economy; normalize power differences such as women’s subordination to men in decision making and men’s violence toward their spouses; and justify discriminatory laws and customs on inheritance and control of assets. Senegal’s ethnic diversity in gender norms is reflected in differential rates of child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting in different regions. Influential conservative religious leaders reinforce these inequitable gender norms.

Gender gaps are worse for poor women and girls in rural and peri-urban areas and for poor men and boys than for wealthier ones. Scarce economic opportunities, for example, lead poor families to send boys to school rather than girls, who are more likely to be married early or tasked with household duties.

Poverty increases the difficulties for adolescent girls and women to access contraceptive and family planning services.

Gender gap analysis should not obscure the reality that women and men remain interdependent in

Senegalese families, communities, and society, especially in rural areas. As one male respondent noted, the pressures of the modernizing economy make it increasingly challenging for one income to maintain a family household. To reduce gender gaps by changing gender norms, increasing economic opportunities for women, and equalizing decision making in all spheres, approaches and strategies should engage

Senegalese women and men alike.

COUNTRY POLICIES AND INSTITUTIONS

Senegal’s primary economic development plan, the PSE 2 (2019–2026), prioritizes sectors for growth that employ predominantly men, such as agribusiness, infrastructure, oil and gas, and information technology

(IT). This policy risks widening the economic gender gap.