Thirst and water
It is undeniable that poverty is on the increase in Senegal. Taking a 15 year period (1980-1994), the per capita growth index gives a negative result. The fact that in the last two years growth has been positive does not in any way reverse this tendency.
The adjustment programmes initiated in the early eighties were based on the reduction of internal demand, opening up the economy to the foreign sector and balancing accounts, putting these as conditions necessary for the recovery of growth and to progressively eradicate poverty. More than fifteen years later, although the accounts have improved, foreign and domestic trade have been liberalised and the privatisations have been brought about, these measures have not consolidated a growth dynamic, nor is poverty is on the way to being eradicated.
A look at the representative social data show, on the contrary, that the advances seen throughout the seventies have slowed due to the austere budgeting and the reduction of the State commitment. First of all there is a worrying situation in terms of access to basic services (health, education, drinking water, sanitation) and employment, particularly amongst young people and women. Poverty shows itself in the indigence of families and of their children, and also, in a more general way, in the increased vulnerability and fragility of the social fabric.
The last containing element, the fixed parity between the CFA and the French frank, which was considered an obstacle to the adjustment of West African economies, gave way in 1994 under pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The near 100% devaluation of the currency produced official inflation of around 40% in 1994-1995 and as a consequence, a drastic reduction of real income for both waged and rural workers. Nothing we have seen allows us to say these sacrifices have helped improve the situations of those who suffered.
The vital issue is to know if economic growth in the context of economic liberalisation is compatible with the aim of reducing poverty. Or, as occurs in so many countries (the United States, Britain), we have to settle for a situation of economic growth accompanied by an increase in poverty.
It is worth considering the differences in attitude when we are dealing with measuring the consequences of the macroeconomic policies in terms of poverty and the worsening of living conditions. Consequently, despite certain arguments and some action limited in time, there is a real deficit of relevant data on the development of the living conditions. On another front, the facts appear to indicate the problem of poverty is a taboo issue. As though at all times the poor, by their mere existence, were flaunting the failures of one and all and open even the most seductive models up to judgement.
Discussing the issue of poverty, its causes and manifestations, would go against the predominant rhetoric of liberalisation, which has been leading the field for several years. Such a controversy would force us to interrogate ourselves about the real impact of the said policies on growth and the effects of these on poverty. It would propose the political dilemma of knowing who really benefits, both at home and abroad, from the structural adjustment programmes, the privatisations, the liberalisation of foreign trade and the budget redistribution.
There is little continuous information on poverty in Senegal. The existing data come from one-off studies which do not allow for trustworthy comparisons to be made over time, nor between socio-economic groups. It is possible, however, to read the situation through different partial sources of information from different sectors or on macro-economic issues.
The most recent available studies, along with the sectoral data, show a worrying social situation, in relation to comparable countries: a very low level of schooling, a high percentage of illiteracy, poor access to drinking water in the urban and rural media, a mediocre life expectancy, a high incidence of hygiene and water related diseases, incipient urban sanitation, and bad access to the health services.
They all agree that poverty has not stopped increasing in Senegal over recent years: according to the World Bank, the growth in GDP went from 3.2% on average during the eighties to 0% in 1990-1994.2 These indices show that in the whole of the period, per capita income fell-for population growth stands at around 3%. According to another study by the same institution, if these tendencies are maintained, there is a risk that poverty will affect 60% of the population by 2015.
Already 30% of homes live under the shadow of poverty. Some 75% live in the rural areas where more than one in every two homes is poor.3
The relation between the 20% of richest to the 20% of poorest homes is more than 16.7% for the 1981-93 period.4 The top 40% of the population takes three quarters of monetary income of the country. And 71% of this income is earned in the urban environment compared with 29% in the rural zones.5
There is no precise information on the number of women living in poverty. But we can however, state that the number of households headed by women is relatively high (16%), without this situation having specific measures to deal with it.6 A large proportion of these homes live in conditions of indigence.
Also in the mid and high Senegal river valley (in the north of the country), a zone with high immigration levels of male workers, there is a clear feminisation of the rural population and increasing poverty, whereby these women do not benefit from the production factors to the same extent as the men.
Child labour is a traditional phenomenon in rural areas and common in urban zones, and according to the International Labour Organisation, 10% of the whole child population is carrying out some paid task. A survey by the Office of Forecasts and Statistics on child labour showed 82% of girl children work in agriculture or domestic tasks. Three quarters of all working children are employed in agriculture while 13% work in urban tasks.7
However, child labour cannot only be interpreted only as a factor of poverty nor as a manifestation of this. Child labour is for the most part an educational factor which occurs mainly in the rural environment, for the child's future insertion into working life. In the urban medium, in the context of absolute poverty, where there is a lack of schooling perspectives and employment opportunities for the parents, child labour, in particular amongst the working class urban economy, appears to be the only way of offering the children an apprenticeship for life, providing a supplementary income for a large part of the population.
The percentage of unemployment, if this can be considered a valid indicator, appeared quite low in 1995. The index went from 4.9 % of women in 1988 to 8.9% in 1988 and 10.3% in 1995.8 In the urban areas it is 24.5% for men and 21.6% for women.9 Still within the urban area, 40% of people in the 20 to 34 age group are unemployed.
However, the form in which the percentage of unemployment is calculated only works as a partial indicator as it does not take into account the underemployed, in particular in the working urban economy (informal sector) and in the rural zones, nor the women at home counted as passive population, nor those who have given up looking for a job. The fact that these cases are not considered, along with the extreme youth of the population, explains the 58% registered in the inactivity index.10
Between 1975 and 1980, 36% of the Senegalese population had access to clean drinking water. Between 1990 and 1995, this index rose to 52%, 28% in the rural zones and 85% in the urban areas.11
But while the availability of water has increased, the daily consumption of water per person has fallen markedly over the last 15 years, with an even more noted drop after adjustment. From 63 litres per person per day in 1980 in the urban areas, it fell to 54 litres in 1994. This fall was even more accentuated in the city of Dakar, where it fell from 88 to 69 litres per person per day.
However, in the same period, the SONEES index of connection to the drinking water network continued to grow, going from 25% of homes in 1980 to 63% in 1994.12
These apparently contradictory developments in fact reflect great inequality in the availability of drinking water: inequalities between those who can have individual connections and those who cannot, inequalities between the rural and urban areas, inequalities within the cities, between the underprivileged and comfortable neighbourhoods.
As for sanitation, 58% of the Senegalese population has this, 40% of the rural population and 83% of the urban, from 1990 to 95.13 The survey on the evaluation of Intermediate Objectives estimated access to a waste-water drainage systems at 10% in all Senegal, which is split between 23% of the rural area and 0% of the rural zones. The availability of adequate latrines, according to the survey, was 38% of the total (71% in the urban area, and 13% rural).
Only 11% of the potential housing in the country as a whole are actually met: for the 30,000 new households formed each year in Senegal, the public and private promoters together only provide 2,000 homes.
This in a country with an estimated 8,500,000 people in 1995.14 Some 48.2% of this population is made up of men and 51.8% women.15 58% of the Senegalese are less than 20 years old and 3.5% are over 65, which defines a very young population. Some 60% of the population live in the rural zones. Women make up 75% of the rural population.16
Although the average density is still low (37 inhabitants per sq. km), the population is growing rapidly, doubling every 25 years,17 mainly in the urban areas.
The percentage of public investments dedicated to water and public hygiene was 14% in 1995, showing a clear increase on figures for 1994, a year when this was barely 9%. This tendency to rise has continued as the forecasts for 1997 indicate the percentage of public investment destined to urban and rural water schemes and sanitation will be around 22%.18
The adjustment policies had clear repercussions on education, as the desire to rationalise and reduce the unit costs of the educational system was reflected in a restructuring of the learning subsidiaries and professional training since a few years ago. The average number of pupils per class went from 55 in 1985 to 62 in 1993.
The quality of education, as is indicated by the unions, has fallen despite the cost per pupil being reduced. There are always serious shortfalls in school equipment, tables, chairs, teaching materials, a lack of buildings and a shortage of teachers. This situation is not only explained by the large increase in size of the school population (4% per year), but is also a result of the structural adjustment programmes which assign other priorities to the State budget to the detriment of the social sectors. These results do not coincide with the strategies established from 1981 onwards, in the General Statutes of Education and Training, ratified in the VIII Plan of Economic and Social Guidelines, which prioritised primary education and the reduction of illiteracy.
The Human Resources Development Programme for the 1994-1999 period has been implemented with the support of investors in order to turn back the tendencies of the past, increasing access to primary, middle and secondary education, and improve the efficiency of the education system and its management and planning ability, while promoting schooling for girls.
There is an action plan for the year 2005 which aims to reduce illiteracy to 30%, lessen the differences between women and men, and diminish inequalities between the various regions and age groups.
There are also many initiatives from the civil society, which have been developed during the eighties and nineties to relieve the State shortfalls: the construction of classrooms by local people, the participation of immigrant Senegalese and also initiatives taken by may associations and NGOs in the fight against illiteracy, the revaluation of national languages...and also in the area of technical training.
Illiteracy reached 67% amongst adults in 1995, one of the highest in the world, distributed in the following manner: 77% women and 57% men.19 The Planning Ministry established an even higher figure: 82% of women aged over 15 years-old and 62.6% of men.20
For the whole of the Senegalese population, the index of primary school enrolment is 26.2% amongst men and 19.2% amongst women.21
Similarly the 1996 World Development Report presented the percentages of primary school enrolment at 50% for girls and 67% for boys in 1993 (compared with 37 and 56% respectively in 1980).22 Despite the variations from one source of information to another, it would seem the percentage of school attendance is on the increase.
From 1988 to 1994, the overall gross rate of secondary schooling went from 20.9% to 21%.23 The index of secondary education enrolment reached 19.7% in the urban areas an 3.1% in rural zones. It is distributed between 9.8% of men and 5.1% of women.24
In 1993, only 52% of Senegalese children reached the fifth year of primary school.25 Most children abandon school at the age of 12, which is the last year of primary education. Girls tend to leave earlier (at the age of 10). Only 17.5% of pre-school and primary school children have real chances of staying in education to secondary level.26
Education spending corresponded to 4.4% of the GDP in 1960 and 4.2% in 1992.
Health
Health coverage has worsened during the last decade. The number of inhabitants per hospital went from 404,818 in 1988 to 465,510 in 1993,27 and to approximately 494,000 inhabitants per hospital in 1995,28 that is, more than three times the WHO norm. In 1995, there were also 161,000 people per health centre (the WHO norm is 50,000) and 11,000 people per health post (a figure closer to the WHO recommendation of 10,000).29
A Declaration of Policy and Health was adopted in 1989 in order to improve health coverage, mainly in the rural and semi-urban areas, to improve mother and baby health, develop prevention programmes and health education, rationalise treatment and monitor the demographic variable. This declaration was followed by the Health District Development Plans and the Regional Health Development Plans.
Life expectancy at the time of birth for the whole population went from 37.3 years in 1960 to 49.5 in 1993, with 50.5 years for women and 48.5 for men. At present the Ministry of Economy and Finance estimates this at 54 years.
Some 40% of the population had access to the health services in the 1985-95 period,30 (which left around 4.7 million people without access). Most people travel on foot or donkey to their nearest health centre.
The infant mortality index (for children under a year old) went from 120 per 1,000 live births in 1974-75 to 68 per 1,000 in the 92-93 period. This stood at 115 per 1,000 for children under five years-old in 1994.31
The place of residence is an important discrimination factor in relation to the probability of infant death before reaching a year old. Infant mortality is 55 per 1,000 in the urban areas compared with 87 per 1,000 in the rural zones.32 (See Graphic 1)
The index of maternal mortality is very high as it affected 510 of every 100,000 live births in the 1979-92 period.33 The UNDP established this was 600 per 100,000 live births from 1980 to 92.
The percentage of women who received no prenatal care reached 4.5% in urban areas and 52.2% in rural zones in 1988.34
Only 46% of births were attended by health personnel between 1983 and 1994.35
Graphic 1.
The synthesised fertility index for the whole country in 1992-93 was 6.1 children per woman.36 This has changed very little rising to 6.8 children per woman since 1986.37 The rate is 6.8 in areas of high illiteracy and 4.6 in more literate areas.38
The synthesised fertility index seen in the rural zones is far higher than that of urban areas: a rural woman has on average 1.6 children more than an urban woman.39
In 1995, the State spend 1990 CFA/per capita on health.40 According to the World Bank, the amounts destined to primary health care went from 48.6% of the total spending on functioning and equipment in the 81-82 period, to 61.8% in 89-90.41 Despite all this, health spending only represented 1.5% of the GNP in 1960 and 2.3% of GDP in 1990.42
For ORANA, the theoretical calorific needs are 2,400 calories and 70 grams of protein per person per day. In Senegal the average food intake was 2,295 calories per day and 63 grams of protein from 1993-94.43 According to the UNDP, the Senegalese calorie count is 2,265.
In terms of food spending, the Bank has set the poverty line in Senegal at 3,324 CFA franks per inhabitant per month. The poor spend 2,247 CFA on their food needs per month.44
Some 21.8% of children aged less than one year old, between 6 and 59 months, are underweight45 and the tendency seems to be towards the situation becoming worse. In the rural areas, twice as many children suffer from low weight or retarded growth compared with the urban areas. This percentage is ratified by the Ministry of Planning which said 22% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition. Serious malnutrition affects nearly 9% of children between 0 and 5 years-old.46
Co-operation, aid and debt
Debt in Senegal represented more than 50% of the GDP in 1992, and the servicing of the debt took 21.4% of exports. Following the devaluation of the CFA in 1994, the size of the debt in local currency increased dramatically, reaching more than 76% of the GDP.
The devaluation, considered a pre-condition imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in order to re-establish relations with Senegal, made it possible to sit down to negotiations with the creditors and tackle the refinancing and cancelling of debts. These measures, along with the development of payments for exports (in CFA) made it possible for Senegal's debt servicing to fall from 21.4% in 1992 to 15.7% in 1995.
- The reductions in debt registered in 1994 were worth around 188.9 million CFA.47.
- Negotiations with the Paris Club by the Ministry of Economy and Finance achieved a reduction of 87 billion CFA on the debts which expired between April 1995 and August 1997, which corresponded partly to the cancellation of debt and partly to a new repayment schedule. This achievement, obtained according to the Naples conditions and for the duration of the programme, made it possible to annul 67% of the expired debts and this saved 29.5 billion on the servicing of the debt which expired in (see Lyons Agreements).
- On another front, in 1995, Senegal signed agreements with creditors in the Arab countries to set new repayment schedules for an amount of 52.5 billion, with the repercussion on the debt servicing for this year being 15.3 billion.
Thanks to these achievements, the amount of the payments for the State budget only affected 21.7% of the public funds instead of the 42% previously predicted. (See Table 1)
Has aid received been orientated towards programmes or policies which take into account the poorer and more vulnerable populations?
There are no recent data on the use of public development aid according to sector. But from another angle, given the small size of the percentage of the budget which goes on public spending, most of these investments must be funded by foreign resources (74% in 1994).
Table 1: Actual servicing of the debt in 1995 (in millions CFA) | |||
Capital |
Interest |
Total |
|
Multilateral |
24,817 |
21,214 |
46,031 |
Bilateral |
16,830 |
12,397 |
29,227 |
Corresp. to OCDE |
7,836 |
9,872 |
17,708 |
It is difficult to establish how much of this spending is aimed at the poor and vulnerable categories as a matter of priority.
However, we know that out of total public spending of 121.4 billion CFA in 1994, the social sector (quaternary) received some 48.8 billion, that is, 40%, In 1995, this percentage dropped to 39%, which corresponded to an amount worth 69.9 billion. This tendency to fall seemed to continue in 1996, as the forecasts indicate social spending will be 91.4 billion out of a total of 237.2 billion, or 38%. (See Table 2)
At present no information is available on the implementation of the 20/20 agreement, neither from the level of the United Nations system, nor the State of Senegal. However, the government accepted the principle by which 20% of spending and the 20% of aid received must be destined towards human development priorities. A document entitled «Strategies and elements of plans of action» should begin to be applied.
The UNDP also supported the option of the 20/20 proposal in its action for the 1998-2000 period. The institution also committed itself to reminding the agencies of the United Nations and the government of the commitments made in the Social Development Summit.
In 1993, Senegal received 644 million US dollars in public aid (322 billion CFA) which was equal to 11.0% of the GNP, which is around US$ 62.8 per person.48 This amount per habitant is one of the highest in the sub-region. According to the Ministry of Economy, this amount should be 313.6 billion CFA for 1996, of which 122.8 are donations and 190.8 loans.49 This reduction in the absolute value is due to the fact the special programmes which accompanied the devaluation of the CFA have come to an end.
France Japan and the European Union were responsible for 95% of the donations given in 1995 and a total of 122.8 billion CFA.
The Table 3 offers a list of the seven most important agreements, which exceeded 3 billion CFA.
Table 2 |
|||
Sub-sector |
Spending |
Spending |
Forecasts |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
|
11. Agriculture |
17,903 |
21,365 |
44,215 |
12. Livestock |
1,171 |
1,689 |
3,643 |
13. Water and Forestry |
6,527 |
5,736 |
7,986 |
14. Fishing |
99 |
1,187 |
2,243 |
15. Rur.&Agric. Water supplies |
8,561 |
15,756 |
11,462 |
18. Research |
4,237 |
3,858 |
4,044 |
19. Institutional support and technical help |
6,673 |
7,266 |
7,415 |
21. Mines and geology |
820 |
966 |
854 |
22. Industry |
8,698 |
2,231 |
5,928 |
23. Crafts |
130 |
296 |
1,7 |
24. Energy |
2,965 |
15,677 |
11,499 |
28. Research |
779 |
2,765 |
2,922 |
29. Institutional support |
351 |
2,326 |
6,606 |
31. Trade |
-- |
-- |
-- |
32. Tourism |
20 |
555 |
530 |
33. Road transport |
6,188 |
17,798 |
22,153 |
34. Rail transport |
1,854 |
2,325 |
7,191 |
35. Sea transport |
872 |
1,756 |
1,29 |
36. Air transport |
935 |
820 |
323 |
37. Post services telecomm. information |
2,118 |
2,462 |
|
38. Research |
20 |
44 |
1,652 |
39. Institutional support |
1,71 |
1,395 |
2,104 |
41. Urban water supply and sanitation |
2,479 |
9,644 |
21,528 |
42. Culture youth and sport |
213 |
2,032 |
1,974 |
43. Urbanism and Habitat |
3,308 |
7,117 |
9,978 |
44. Health and nutrition |
8,821 |
12,301 |
11,142 |
45. Education and training |
11,381 |
9,649 |
19,978 |
46. Social Development |
2,133 |
4,414 |
3,103 |
47. Administrative teams |
4,177 |
5,89 |
6,848 |
48. Research |
94 |
768 |
354 |
49. Institutional support and technical assistance |
16,184 |
18,139 |
16,539 |
Primary sector |
45,171 |
56,857 |
81,008 |
Secondary sector |
13,743 |
24,261 |
29,509 |
Tertiary sector |
13,717 |
27,155 |
35,243 |
Quaternary sector |
48,79 |
69,954 |
91,444 |
Total development projects |
121,421 |
178,227 |
237,204 |
Table 3 |
||
Investors |
Objectives |
Amounts (in billions CFA) |
FRANCE Min. Coop. | Liquidation of debts with Senegalese companies |
35,600 |
E.U. | Structural adjustment support 95 |
12,870 |
JAPAN | AEP of the 8 regions |
11,550 |
JAPAN | Construction of classroom |
10,620 |
JAPAN | Water supply support |
7,500 |
FRANCE CFD | Structural adjustment 2nd. stage |
7,000 |
FRANCE CFD | Structural adjustment 1st. stage |
5,000 |
FRANCE CFD | River Valley programme |
4,700 |
E.U. | STABEX 94 |
3,534 |
E.U. | Kermel affair |
3,201 |
JAPAN | Food production increase aid |
3,060 |
The total donations for budget aid received by the State reached 84.1 billion in 1994 compared with 16.7 billion in 1993, and 20.5 billion in 1992; this marked increase can once again be explained by the support offered within the devaluation framework. This effort should however continue, knowing that the estimates for 1995 and 1996 indicate 112.9 and 118.2 billions respectively.
The latest figures of 1995 activity show however that the multilateral budged aid was falling (85.5 billion); half of which corresponded to the IMF (41 billion) within the Reinforced Structural Adjustment Facility. The bilateral budget support has meanwhile been 22.2 billion, that is, fulfilling 77% of the forecast levels.
From a sectoral point of view, the World Bank funded PASCO (the private sector competivity programme) and PASA (the agricultural structural adjustment programme); France and the IMF funded the budget deficit and balance of payments respectively; while Japan's budget aid is aimed mainly to funding imports. The European Union (EU), lastly, funded the Structural Adjustment Support Project, the compensation agreed in the fishing agreements (15.8 billion ECU) and STABEX (6.9 billion CFA).
Analysis of the rate of execution of the funding agreements show the IMF, France, the United States and Japan are those who best fulfil the agreements made. The other donors tend to be behind schedule in paying up due to frequent problems in the conditions set. The dominion of the foreign payments of budget aid currently allow for the money to be delivered 15 days after the agreement is signed. (See Table 4)
Access to resources and economic opportunities
With the increase of unemployment in the eighties, the government had adopted an employment encouragement policy. Various, mainly institutional, measures were brought in to help the government make decisions, but they were all insufficient to generate the necessary number of jobs.
The strategy used by the government on the employment front aimed to promote labour intensive investment projects, the informal sector and the PME/PMI. Two main objectives were aimed for: adapting the work market to make it more flexible and better qualified, and correcting certain negative effects in favour of the groups affected.
In 1991, the percentage of unemployment was 10.6%, with 8% amongst women and 11.5% amongst men.50 This especially affected young urban men aged between 20 and 34, where it reached 40%.51 In the rural environment, unemployment is lower. The problem here is that the work is seasonal.
However, we can point out that this percentage is certainly underestimated as it does not take into account a number of situations which increase the effective number of unemployed people: like the fact for example that underemployment (above all in the rural zones where this is very common) is seen as the same as full time work: a person who only works one month a year is considered economically active. In the same way, the status of «housewife» is classed as an activity, when in fact it often conceals female unemployment.
Table 4: Budgetary aid 1995 (in cfa. F billions) |
|||
Source |
Prevision |
Realization |
Execution rate |
World Bank |
38.0 |
29.6 |
78% |
IMF |
41.6 |
41.1 |
99% |
E.U. |
19.5 |
14.8 |
76% |
USA |
5.5 |
5.5 |
98% |
FRANCE |
13.0 |
13.0 |
100% |
JAPAN |
3.8 |
3.8 |
100% |
KUWAIT |
6.4 |
0 |
0% |
TOTAL |
127.8 |
107.7 |
84% |
From multilateral |
99.1 |
85.5 |
86% |
From bilateral |
28.7 |
22.2 |
77% |
Underemployment is very high in the rural areas due to the seasonal nature of the work and the informal sector. Very often the status of «trader» in the informal sector hides evident underemployment. But, up until today, no survey has evaluated this quantitatively.
According to the 1988 General Census of Population and Housing, Senegal has 2,231,085 active people distributed between 2,046,052 employed and 182,000 out of work or unemployed, that is, a gross activity index of 32%. This figure is 45.9% amongst men and 15% amongst women.52
The ESP, in January 1992, showed a gross activity index of 42% including:
- 55% of active independents
- 8% of salaried private sector workers (formal, informal, or home workers)
- 2.8% of public sector wage earners.53
A great disparity can also be noted between Dakar and the other regions of the nation: Dakar holds 74% of the workers in permanent employment.54
Women are not favoured in employment due, to a large extent, to their lack of training. For example, only 15% of the 68,537 civil servants are women. Similarly, only 4% of private sector managers are women.55
The capacity for the creation of jobs in the informal sector appears greater than in the modern sector. The annual index of growth in the informal sector was 4.3% between 1980 and 1991. Total employment in this sector was estimated at 630,000 jobs in 1991, of which 45% were in the region of Dakar.56 Some 18% of those active belonged to the informal sector in 1988 and 24.4% in 1991. Thus this sector has become indispensable due to its contributions to the national economy in terms of savings, investments, production, job creation and income, satisfying the primary needs of the population etc. It is the main provider of employment for women.
The labour legislation (laws relative to women's work) in the urban media mean the State policy still does little to benefit women, even though measures have been taken for them to be promoted and to guarantee their rights.
Citizen participation
Senegal is famous for being one of the most democratic nations in Africa. There is full freedom of association and expression. It has a multiparty system with more than 15 parties. However, the Socialist Party has been in power since independence and dominates all the political institutions.
The elections have progressively transformed into a predominant issue in the political life of the country in the last ten years. The political class generate contradictory public debates through the press or meetings.
But the political system and its institutions (parties, parliament) are still far away from dealing with the concerns of the population. The development of hundreds of independent associations, especially in the rural areas, mainly initiated by the people themselves on all levels, clearly reflect the existing distance between the citizens and the political rhetoric.
These associations try to satisfy the needs of the population in areas where the State is patently failing. The structural adjustment which led to a rift between the State and the main production sectors, and the weakening of its social role gave rise to the development of the association movement. There are such groups to deal with all the social causes: the role of women, the status of children, religion, defence of the environment, consumer interests, defence of the rural population...
Municipal elections are held every five years. In November 1996, local elections were held after the «regionalisation» law was passed - legislation agreed in the framework of the decentralisation of the State. These elections allowed for the renovation of the municipal and rural councils, and the implementation of new regional councils. These regional assemblies, arising from the 1996 reforms, participate at a regional level in the economic and social development of the nation.
Following several years of structural adjustment, many people are asking if this decentralisation is not derived from the quest for better management of indigence and if, on another front, it does not hand back the economic and political power the political class had partially lost when the State was obliged to reduce its commitments and rationalise the administration of public funds.
The most important question we are left asking is if a real democracy and an effective participation in public affairs can exist in a context of impoverishment with a high level of illiteracy. For isn't this context more biased towards the deviations of patronage and the emergence of religious or regional stratification?
Plans for the eradication of poverty
Senegal has prepared a National Plan to fight poverty over a five year period with investments of close to 3% of the GDP. But this plan has not yet been approved.
The aims are:
- to increase and diversify income and create jobs for the poor populations in urban and rural environments;
- to improve access to the basic services: population, health, education, literacy, drinking water and sanitation;
- to improve security and increase social action to attenuate the damaging effects of the policies and the programmes which affect the vulnerable social levels and those coming from exceptional situations (conflicts, natural disasters);
- to reinforce the capacities of the living conditions.
The long term objective is to reduce poverty by half.
Notes:
1 Bajo la responsabilidad de Taoufik Ben Abdallah.
2 World Bank, World development report 1996.
3 Department of Forecasts and Statistics: Research on priorities, social dimensions of adjustment, Dakkar, 1993.
4 UNDP, World Human Development Report 1996, Economic, Paris, 1996.
5 Department of Forecasts and Statistics: ESP, Dakkar, 1993.
6 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide for Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
7 Aboulaye SADIO: Child labour in Senegal: methodological survey, Ministry of Economy and Finance, DPS, Dakkar, July 1993.
8 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Dakkar, December 1996.
9 ESP, op cit, 1993.
10 Boubacar SONKO: Overall analysis of strategies, policies and programmes on employment, BIT, April 1996.
11 UNDP, op cit.
12 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Dakkar, December 1996.
13 UNDP, op cit.
14 Ministry of Economy and Finances, Dakkar, December 1996.
5 ESP, op cit, 1993.
16 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
17 ESP, op cit, 1993.
18 Ministry of Finance, Department of Debt and Investments: The development of investments from 1994 to 1997.
19 World Bank, World development report 1996.
20 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
21 EDS II, Demographic and Health Survey (II), 1992.
22 World Bank, Human Development Report, 1995.
23 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
24 EDS II, Demographic and Health Survey (II), 1992.
25 UNICEF, State of the Worlds Children Report, 1993.
26 IPEC, ILO and UNICEF: The work of children in Senegal, Dakkar, 1996.
27 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
28 Ministry of Economy and Finances, Dakkar, December 1996.
29 Ministry of Economy and Finances, Dakkar, December 1996.
30 UNDP, op cit.
31 UNDP, op cit. and Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
32 Ministry of Economy and Finances, Dakkar, December 1996.
33 EDS II, Demographic and Health Survey (II), 1992.
34 World Bank, Senegal, evaluation of living conditions, April 1994.
35 UNDP, op cit.
36 ESP, op cit.
37 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
38 World Bank, Senegal, evaluation of living conditions, April 1994.
39 Ministry of Economy and Finances, Dakkar, December 1996.
40 Ministry of Economy and Finances, Dakkar, December 1996.
41 World Bank, Senegal, evaluation of living conditions, April 1994.
42 UNDP, op cit.
43 Cellule Agro-Sylvo-Pastorale (CASPAR).
44 ESP, op cit, 1993.
45 DPS II, Dakar, 1992.
46 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
47 Source: Ministry of Economy and Finance.
48 UNDP Human Development Report, 1996.
49 Source: Ministry of Economy and Finance, Senegal, 1996.
50 Ministry of Economy and Finances, Dakkar, December 1996.
51 Department of Forecasts and Statistics; ESP, Dakkar, 1993.
52 Boubacar SONKO: Overall analysis of strategies, policies and programmes on employment, BIT, April 1996.
53 ESP, op cit, 1993.
54 Boubacar SONKO: Overall analysis of strategies, policies and programmes on employment, BIT, April 1996.
55 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.
56 Ministry of Economy and Finance, Planning Department: Plan to Guide Economic and Social Development, 1996-2001, (IX plan), Dakkar, August 1996.