Plan Senegal Annual Progress Report 2009

PORTUGAL PORTUGAL PORTUGAL PORTUGAL

GIBRALTAR GIBRALTAR GIBRALTAR GIBRALTAR

A YEAR IN

SENEG09AL

MOROCCO MOROCCO MOROCCO MOROCCO

SUMMARY REPORT

ALGERIA ALGERIA ALGERIA ALGERIA

WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN SAHARA WESTERN SAHARA SAHARA SAHARA (OCCUPIED (OCCUPIED (OCCUPIED BY(OCCUPIED MOROCCO)

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GOOD REASONS why Plan works in Senegal

NCH ANA

• One in six children under the age of five suffers from chronic malnutrition

A completed school latrine in Kaolack.

• 46% of families do not have a secure source of food • A third of girls do not go to primary school

Our priorities in Senegal

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Young students receive new school supplies.

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• Working to promote children’s rights at all levels of society, to establish a culture where children are fully-fledged members of society

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• Helping people earn a better living by providing loans and savings, and improving the management of natural resources

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• Promoting education, children’s survival and safe motherhood, and safe drinking water and sanitation

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October when maximum petroleum, and tourism.

N’Zerekore N’Zerekore N’Zerekore N’Zerekore temperatures average 27 °C. Exports include fish, Population: 11.6 million December to February chemicals, cotton, fabrics, minimum temperatures groundnuts, and calcium LIBERIA LIBERIA LIBERIA LIBERIA Language: French, Wolof are about 17 °C. In the phosphate. Private activity and other local languages far interior of the country now accounts for 82 percent Summer temperatures can of GDP. On the negative Climate: The local climate reach as high as 54 °C side, Senegal faces deepis tropical with well-defined seated urban problems of dry and humid seasons that Economy: The main chronic high unemployment, result from northeast winter industries include food GUINEA GUINEA GUINEA GUINEA socioeconomic disparity, winds and southwest summer processing, mining, cement, juvenile delinquency, and winds. Dakar’s annual artificial fertilizer, chemicals, drug addiction. rainfall of about 600 mm textiles, refining imported occurs between June and

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“Although one LakeLake Volta Lake Volta Lake Volta Volta of the more politically stable countries of West Africa, Senegal remains a low-income, food-deficient nation” NIGERIA NIGERIA NIGERIA NIGERIA

– Ousmane Seye, Plan’s Country Director

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A YEAR IN

SENEGA09L SUMMARY REPORT

FOCUS ON: CHILD SURVIVAL, PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT Infant deaths are high in Senegal, and too many women still die in childbirth. But survival rates continue to improve in the areas where Plan works.

Educating people on subjects such as nutrition and hygiene, handing out mosquito nets to stop the spread of malaria and digging boreholes for clean drinking water are just a few of the things that have helped.

BETTER NUTRITION IN KHOMBOLE

M Monitoring infant weight in Gandon-Saint Louis.

The Bigger Picture

Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that Senegal faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Built 55 new school classrooms in 2008, as well as 15 single-sex sanitary blocks within schools • Helped 128 communities get access to safe drinking water • Supported local communities to plant 163,987 seedlings to stop the spread of the desert • Saw 85% of children attend primary school in Plan areas in 2008, compared to 65% in 2003. More children, especially girls, stayed on in school, and results improved.

Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!

“Monthly weigh-ins are accompanied by cooking demonstrations showing parents how they can make nutritious recipes with local ingredients” To learn more about Plan’s work in Senegal visit plan.org.au/ourwork/westafrica/senegal

Produced for Senegal by the Australian National Office.

alnutrition isn’t just about going hungry. Lack of food means a lack of vital nutrients, which harms the developing body and brain, and leaves children vulnerable to a range of diseases. It’s the biggest cause of death among children worldwide.

In 2003, Plan found that one in every five children in Khombole, a small town in western Senegal, was suffering from malnutrition. Extreme poverty, poor hygiene, a lack of sanitation facilities, overpopulation and poor nutrition during pregnancy were combining to put the lives of hundreds of children at risk.

Plan began working in Khombole shortly after as part of a national programme to improve nutrition among young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women. The project isn’t about providing food: it aims to encourage lasting improvements in people’s diets and behaviour.

From the outset, Plan worked closely with the people of Khombole. We offered training and supervision so they can provide health and nutrition services and education within their own community.

Awareness and interventions A range of activities has raised awareness of good nutrition. Monthly weigh-ins to monitor the growth of children under two are accompanied by cooking demonstrations, showing parents and babysitters how they can make nutritious recipes with local ingredients.

What’s more, Plan and our local partners have used everything from radio and theatre, to talk sessions and home visits to promote health, hygiene and environmental sanitation. Poor hygiene and sanitation is a common cause of illness, which in turn can lead to malnutrition, as children who are sick are not able to process their food properly.

“Any person in the rural community will tell you that we have recorded fewer deaths of children during the last two years”

Plan has also been working to reduce the spread of some of the most debilitating diseases. We distributed free long-lasting mosquito nets to children under five to protect against malaria.

Children aged one to four also receive regular treatments for worms – among the most widespread but least treated tropical diseases.

Children under five and breastfeeding women now receive vitamin A supplements every six months (a lack of vitamin A can cause blindness). Pregnant women are given iron supplements to treat acute anaemia, a major cause of death in childbirth.

Plan has also promoted the use of iodised salt to combat iodine deficiency, which can retard mental development as well as cause swollen thyroid glands.

Lasting benefits The results of this work have been dramatic. The rate of malnutrition among children under two in Khombole has fallen from 22% to just 8%. Infant and maternal mortality rates have also decreased.

Similar improvements have been seen in other areas where Plan operates. According to Mbaye Ndiaye, a community health educator: “Any person in the rural community will tell you that we have recorded fewer deaths of children during the last two years, even during the rainy season, which used to be the period of the highest death rates.”

The second phase of the programme is due to be completed by 2011. Plan has spent a lot of time talking to influential people and local decision-makers about the importance of nutrition for young children and pregnant women. Increasingly, the local community is taking control of the project.

Plan has a formal partnership with the Khombole municipal council, and local steering committees oversee the day-to-day management of the project. These formal partnerships ensure the work will continue after Plan has moved on.

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.

plan.org.au