USAID's Strategy in Senegal

Senegal is a democratic and moderate Muslim nation committed to fighting terrorism. A stable country in an unstable region, and a model of religious and ethnic tolerance, it plays a key role in conflict resolution in West Africa and beyond. A founder of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the country is an advocate for private sector-led growth and trade as the essential engines of Africa's economic growth. Freedom House lists Senegal as one of the few African and Muslim countries among the ranks of free nations.

With few natural resources and a per capita income of $500 per year, Senegal is one of the poorest countries in the world. Unless it can create the conditions to unlock the productivity of its people and, in so doing, create jobs for thousands of unemployed youth, improve access to education and health care, and give people hope for the future, the country risks falling prey to the despair and demagoguery that have destabilized many of its neighbors.

Social indicators, although improving, paint a troubling picture. A poorly educated population, combined with a Sahelian environment of poor soils, very limited rainfall, and rapidly disappearing forests, create the conditions in which 53.9 percent of households live below the poverty line. This has spurred an exodus to the cities, especially the capital, Dakar, where urban squalor is widespread.

Several disasters disrupted development progress in 2002. The delayed onset of the rainy season reduced harvests across the country, while unseasonal rain and cold caused losses of livestock, crops and homes in the north. In September, 1,836 people died in the tragic sinking of the "Joola" ferry, a key economic and psychological link between the conflict-affected Casamance region and the rest of the country. Without the ferry, lack of reliable transportation between the Casamance and the capital limits commerce from one of the most productive regions.

It is in the United States' national interest to reinforce Senegal's stability and help it reduce poverty by promoting growth-oriented private sector development, improving the quality of social services and infrastructure, and strengthening democratic policies and practices through decentralization, good governance and conflict resolution.

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