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Reading "So Long a Letter" Through a Gender Lens

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Reading "So Long a Letter" Through a Gender Lens

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A gender lens asks us to read a text for its gender related issues or attitudes towards gender. This includes looking at significant issues or attitudes that relate to the gender of the author or the main characters, considering gender stereotypes and how they may be reinforced or undermined, observing the roles of people based off of their gender in a binary or non-binary construct, and visualising reading the text from another gender identity’s perspective (Von Steuben). I will look at all of these focuses as I analyze So Long a Letter, a semi-autobiographical epistolary novel written first in French by a Senegalese feminist named Mariama Bâ.

"Eight Critical Lenses Through Which Readers Can View Texts," Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, 2016.

“So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 28 June 1989, www.goodreads.com/book/show/151374.So_Long_a_Letter.

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The Importance of Gender and a Short Explanation of the Text

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The Importance of Gender and a Short Explanation of the Text

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Bâ wrote “So Long a Letter” to reflect some events that similarly happened in her own life but to also add some elements that were fictional to make the story flow better. The text is based around Ramatoulaye, Senegalese woman who writes to her old friend, Aissatou, who lived in America at the time. Ramatoulaye sends many letters reflecting and explaining the hardships she encounters in her life while still living in Dakar, Senegal with her family and Aissatou’s old husband. A few of these main hardships include Ramtoulaye’s husband abandoning her for another wife, forcing a polygamistic relationship which she hates but is legal and accepted in their Mulsim culture, being required to mourn and take in her husband’s family when her husband dies, and watching her friend’s daughters and her own daughter give in to the tempation of destructive habits. Throughout the text, it is clear that Ramatoulaye is a strong woman and feminist but she is caught in an internal battle between respecting her Islamic beliefs, doing what she feels is just, and keeping her personality when she is treated as an object by some of her family. The pressure she receives to act as a submissive housewife and endure demeaning actions against her are largely due to her gender.

Patriotic Vanguard. “Profile: Senegalese Writer Mariama Ba.” The Patriotic Vanguard, 30 July 2013, www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/profile-senegalese-writer-mariama-ba.

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Mariama Bâ (April 17, 1929-August 17, 1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist, who wrote in French. Born in Dakar, she was raised a Muslim, but at an early age came to criticise what she perceived as inequalities between the sexes resulting from African traditions. Raised by her traditional grandparents, she had to struggle even to gain an education, because they did not believe that girls should be taught. Bâ later married a Senegalese member of Parliament, Obèye Diop, but divorced him and was left to care for their nine children.

Her frustration with the fate of African women-as well as her ultimate acceptance of it-is expressed in her first novel, So Long a Letter. In it she depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife. Abiola Irele called it "the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction." This short book was awarded the first Noma Prize for Publishing in Africa in 1980.

Bâ died a year later after a protracted illness, before her second novel, Scarlet Song, which describes the hardships a woman faces when her husband abandons her for a younger woman he knew at youth, was published.

The historian Nzegwu has contended that Bâ's life was rich in events. Bâ was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, into an educated and well-to-do Senegalese family where she grew up. Her father was a career civil servant who became one of the first ministers of state. He was the Minister of Health in 1956 while her grand father was an interpreter in the French occupation regime.

After her mother's death, Bâ was largely raised in the traditional manner by her maternal grandparents. She received her early education in French, while at the same time attending Koranic school.

Bâ was a prominent law student at school. During the colonial revolution period and later, girls faced numerous obstacles when they wanted to have a higher education. Bâ's grandparents did not plan to educate her beyond primary school. However, her father's insistence on giving her an opportunity to continue her studies eventually persuaded them.

In a teacher training college based in Rufisque (a suburb in Dakar), she won the first prize in the entrance examination and entered the École Normale. In this institution, she was prepared for later career as a school teacher. The school's principal began to prepare her for the 1943 entrance examination to a teaching career after he noticed Bâ's intellect and capacity. She taught from 1947 to 1959, before transferring to the Regional Inspectorate of teaching as an educational inspector.

Bâ was a novelist, teacher and feminist, active from 1979 to 1981 in Senegal, West Africa. Bâ's source of determination and commitment to the feminist cause stemmed from her background, her parents' life and her schooling. Indeed, her contribution is of absolute importance in modern African studies since she was among the first to illustrate the disadvantaged position of women in African society. Bâ's work focused on the grandmother, the mother, the sister, the daughter, the cousin and the friend, how they all deserve the title "mother of Africa", and how important they are for the society.

Mariama Bâ felt the failure of African liberation struggles and movements. Her earliest works were essays she wrote while at the École Normale. Some of her works have now been published. Her first work constitutes essentially a useful method of rejection of the "so-called French assimilationist policy".

Bâ advocated urgent consideration and reinvigoration of African life.

This consideration and reinvigoration is essentially founded on the social construct of the relationship between man and woman. Indeed, there is an unequal and unbalanced power in the male/female relationship. According to her, these facts can help us become aware of Africa's needs for societal change, a change more political than merely making speeches.

As a divorcee and "a modern Muslim woman" as she characterized herself, Bâ was active in women's associations. She also ardently promoted education. She defended women's rights, delivered speeches, and wrote articles in local newspapers. Thus, her contribution is significant because she explained and described the disadvantaged position of women in general and especially married women.

Bâ also had vision and determined commitment. She felt African people should reduce the deleterious impact of their culture. Women are plunged both psychologically and financially in a sensual indulgence and complete lack of regard for the consequences of men's actions on families. They are completely blind. These facts led Bâ to believe in her mission to expose and critique the rationalisations employed to justify established power structures.

She thought that distortions of cultural thought and institutions are made to demonstrate masquerades as "tradition" and "culture". Men and Women have been seduced into accepting the continuation of these "customs". People should be "persuaded of the inevitable and necessary complementarity of man and woman".

Bâ wrote many books openly sharing her thoughts and feelings, including: So Long a Letter (1981), Scarlet Songs (1986), and La fonction politique des littératures Africaines écrites (The Political Function of African Written Literatures) (1981).

So Long a Letter

In 1981, So Long a Letter was awarded the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. In this book, the author recognized the immense contributions African women have made and continue to make in the building of their societies. This book has already been published in more than a dozen languages and is about to appear in more.

The book is written in the form of a letter, or a diary, from a widow, Ramatoulaye, to her childhood girlfriend, Aissatou, who lives in the United States. Nafissatou Diallo (1941-1982), who started her works in the 1970s, was a mirror for Mariama Bâ, whose leading role was a strong-minded character. Moreover, she found support, friendship and values from female confidence, unity and harmony. The discriminatory use of power forces Ramatoulaye to deal with its consequences. This discriminatory power is what is in the novel a form of male domination coming from society's construction of a patriarchal ideology. Because Ramatoulaye is a woman, she seemingly has no right determining her destiny. Aissatou rejects this notion and chooses her own life without being denied a life of her own by her husband Mawdo.

This strong exploration of feminism is perhaps what makes the novel a strong voice for the oppressed woman in Africa. The woman is oppressed by culture and by virtue of her position. Aissatou rejects this and slowly Ramatoulaye realises she cannot look to her culture for much.

To demonstrate how males are instinctive, Bâ uses female rationality and responsibility. She also portrays men's irresponsibility by using their sexual instincts. Mawdo, Aissatou's husband, differs from her. He emphasizes the bestiality of men's instincts, while she urges her daughter against them. She argues that a man's instinct is "through his self-control, his ability, to reason, to choose his power to attachment, that individual distinguishes himself from animal."(Mariama Bâ, 1981)

As a Senegalese figure, Mariama Bâ represents a kind of female Leopold Sedar Senghor. She shows that not only men are important in this world. She also shows that to succeed in this life, women should identify themselves and also trust in themselves to overcome these multiple darknesses that compose life. In showing the importance of women, their role in bringing up families and keeping them together in time of calamity is clearly brought out in the novel. This still is a powerful expression of the unheeded voice of the previously silent woman in Africa. Bâ is actually calling on women to take responsibility for their lives throughout the novel.

Through her character Ramatoulaye, Mariama Bâ has expressed herself. This includes the statement that she: "has not given up waiting to refashion her life. Despite everything (disappointment and humiliations) hope still lives within her... the success of a nation depends inevitably on just such families." She also shows that books can be a weapon, "a peaceful weapon perhaps, but they are weapon."(Mariama Bâ, 1981).

According to her: "The power of books, this marvelous invention of astute human intelligence. Various signs associated with sound: different sounds that form the word. Juxtaposition of words from which springs the idea, Thought, History, Science, Life. Sole instrument of interrelationship and of culture, unparalleled means of giving and receiving. Books knit generations together in the same continuing effort that leads to progress. They enabled you to better yourself. What society refused you, they granted..."

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Mariama Bâ (April 17, 1929-August 17, 1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist, who wrote in French. Born in Dakar, she was raised a Muslim, but at an early age came to criticise what she perceived as inequalities between the sexes resulting from African traditions.

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“Woman Writes a Letter.” Shutterstock, www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fvideo%2Fclip-2169167-woman-writes-letter---black-background&psig=AOvVaw03izQZBF1JIvDQKVtu9hm2&ust=1581712000825000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCIje68Wuz-cCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD.

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The Role of Gender and Roles of the Genders

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The Role of Gender and Roles of the Genders

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The gender of the narrator definitely impacted her life through the experiences she endured. Ramatoulaye had to endure the degrading role of being a married senegalese woman, and stay true to her personal convictions as a strong Muslim. Even though she technically had similar legal rights, she did not have nearly the same amount of opportunities as her husband did and was practically owned by him. There were clearly different roles for males and females. At the time of her husband’s funeral, only the men could take away the body and mourn while the women stayed back and cooked and hosted others, which was mostly Ramatoulaye’s unfortunate duty. When gifts of bank notes were given as condolences, she did not get possession of basically any of it and she was used by her family for their comfort and convenience. Also, no matter how long she had been married to Modou as a housewife, he treated her the same as his other wife who he had been married to for a sixth of the amount of time as she had.

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She was surrounded by a man-dominated society which enforced gender stereotypes. These gender stereotypes are undermined when Aissatou divorces her husband to live a more free life. Both Aissatou and Ramatoulaye undermine the gender stereotypes forced on them. Ramatoulaye undermines the stereotype of a submissive housewife when she boldly rejects men for asking for her hand in marriage after her husband’s death.

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Living in a culture heavily influenced by Islam, religious laws played a factor in inforcing the family roles of only males and females and children. This influenced the forced binary construction of exclusively males and females in Islamic society. The author focuses on the binary constructions of males and females but makes clear that Ramatoulaye held strong to her beliefs on feminism and equality.

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Taking a Step Back to Look From a Different Perspective

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Taking a Step Back to Look From a Different Perspective

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If I imagined the text from the shoes of one of another gender identity, in this case it would be a binary construct switch from my identity as a male to a female. If I tried to look at this text from a female’s perspective, I would be even more outraged at how Senegalese women were objectified in the marriage of a husband and a wife. It is impossible for me to look at the text from a woman's perspective because I clearly am not one and I do not think like a woman but I can make a reasonable assumption that the women in the narrator’s Senegalese culture clearly saw the inequality between the male and female genders as wrong.

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“So Long a Letter” was published in 1979. Being a semi-autobiographical epistolary novel, the text includes some fictional aspects but it also includes situations that were similar to Ba's life. This means that there must have been serious issues of inequality between the genders when she was living in Senegal. Through some research I found that there are still many issues related to gender inequality still in Senegal but there have been more laws put in place recently to fight for gender equality.

Check out - “In Senegal, men make on average $142 more than women per month. This is the 15th largest gap in Africa, according to the World Economic Forum” ("Let's talk about feminism")

“Let's Talk about Feminism. -Senegalese Women in Leadership Positions.” Let's Talk about Feminism. -Senegalese Women in Leadership Positions | Global Citizen Year, www.globalcitizenyear.org/updates/lets-talk-about-feminism-senegalese-women-in-leadership-positions/.

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On October 3rd, Dakar elected their new major, Soham El Wardini, the first post-colonial female major in Senegal. This news opened our curiosity and interest in a new topic for our program, E-jáng radio. Senegalese women in Leadership positions.
Alex and I agree that we needed to open our media space to give a voice to those powerful women from Thiés that, like Soham, that are fighting every day for recognition in their jobs and gender equality.

In our background research, we find interesting data such as:

* In Senegal, men make on average $142 more than women per month. This is the 15th largest gap in Africa, according to the World Economic Forum.

* In 2010, Senegal adopted a gender parity law. This law requires political parties to ensure at least half of their candidates (in local and national elections) are female candidates.

* More than half of Senegal's population is women -12.5 million.

* Senegal has a 42.7% of female representation in the legislature. According to the Inter-Parliment Union.

* Rwanda, Uganda, Seychelles, Namibia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Angola, Tunisia, South Africa, Burundi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Sudan, Algeria, and Senegal have more than 30% women in their legislatures. Which shows that these countries outperform other "more developed countries" like France, which only has 26.2%, or Australia with 26.7%, the USA with 19.4%, and Japan with only 9.5% of women in their legislatures. According to IPU.

Even though things are improving in Senegal and other African countries, Senegalese women still face many challenges on an everyday basis and in leadership positions.
Economic dependency, cultural and social sexism, limited access to education and information, the heavy responsibility of the domestic household all by themselves, harassment, and violence are only a few of the obstacles that women have to go through to improve their lifestyle, they wellness and to be part of the labor workforce.

Our guest of the week, Madame Ndiaye, American Institute's director, had a response to this prompt. For her, women who deal with the household, and the domestic responsibilities are also very important leaders in the community. From an alternative feminist point of view, Madame Ndiaye ensures that domestic labor is the key to the improvement of the Senegalese society. For her, white feminism has undermined the fact that raising a child and be a leader in a house if one of the most important responsibilities of humankind, and this is a work that women are supposed to perform.

After this thoughtful response, I agreed with Madame Ndiaye to some extent, and I realize that concepts like "success" and "leader" have been formed around western standards, when in reality, in the other half of the globe, women are re-positioning themselves in their houses and in their communities. Women are who deal, on a daily basis, with "the reality of hard living conditions, in a country in which over 70% of the population who live below the poverty line". Those women are the ones, fighting for fair lives for her children, organizing themselves at an economic level in her houses and moving forward to a equal socio-economic status, not only for women themselves but also for those around them.

The African proverb says: "If you educate a man, you will educate an individual. If you educate a woman, you will educate an entire village."-Dr. James Emmanuel Kwegyir-Aggrey (1875-1927)

At that point of the research, I was wondering myself if we were able to talk the language of a intersectional feminism, an African feminism, a Senegalese feminism. Or the whole program was based on our idea of "leaders", and in our idea of "successful women".

To be honest, I am not quite sure yet what those concepts and standards mean for me yet. Madame Ndiaye, had a good point: western standard had left behind and blinded the important job that women play in their houses and in their communities.

Historically, women roles have been underestimated, and "men jobs" have been considered the future to look for. This new feminist perspective open my eyes, to see all the effort that women have to do on a daily basis. As an example, I have my host mom and my little sister of 15 years old, whom each day, woke up at 6AM, to clean the house, cook breakfast, go to school, come back from school, make lunch, clean again, do homework, cook dinner; having a full day with no resting, having no other choice, because anyone else in the house will do all of these tasks, but to some extent doing this work, to show love to those that are around them.

One of the things, I can rectify, is that women, independently of their religion, their culture, their social context or their country, should be able to decide by themselves. Women all around the world should be able to have the same opportunities to become leaders or to raise children if that is what they prefer. TO HAVE A CHOICE. However, equal opportunities for women are a utopia in many countries around the world, including Senegal.

In a country, in which 95% of their population is Muslim, society and culture are strongly influenced by the learnings of the Quoran. Religion has a big impact on what is considered appropriate for gender roles, which to some extent is an obstacle for women to be able to make their own decisions about their roles in their communities and in the labor force. This reality can be testified in their gender wage gap, as well as in the stigma, marginalization, and underestimation of women in all kinds of leadership positions (from women in government, to women working in their houses).

Steps like gender parity laws, access to education, fair salaries, violence eradication will open the chance for women to make a choice, and even though these steps are long-term achievable, our job as a generation is to work towards these ideals, step by step, ndanke ndanke, we can eradicate micro-machism, and appreciate the job that women in our houses and around us do.

If you are interested to read more about the topic, here the link to some very useful articles:

* www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/dec/15/women-parliament-quotas-gender-development

[https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2010/12/15/1292414534057/MDG-Women-MP-in-Rwanda-005.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&bm=normal&ba=bottom%2Cleft&blend64=aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMuZ3VpbS5jby51ay9pbWFnZXMvb3ZlcmxheXMvZDM1ODZhNWVmNTc4MTc1NmQyMWEzYjYzNWU1MTcxNDEvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&s=a2456ce95d2cc4b6599cf154b4b360e7]< www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/dec/15/women-parliament-quotas-gender-development>

Why we need quotas for women MPs | Glenys Kinnock | Global ...< www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/dec/15/women-parliament-quotas-gender-development>
www.theguardian.com
Rwanda's parliament is the first in the world where women hold the majority of seats. Photograph: Stephanie McCrummen/Getty Images Gender discrimination is pervasive and pernicious, and it remains ...

* www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/sep/04/african-women-political-influence-cultural-change

[https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2012/9/3/1346674911973/MDG-African-women-and-po-008.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&bm=normal&ba=bottom%2Cleft&blend64=aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMuZ3VpbS5jby51ay9pbWFnZXMvb3ZlcmxheXMvZDM1ODZhNWVmNTc4MTc1NmQyMWEzYjYzNWU1MTcxNDEvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&s=a12dd12090e1dd95a3336281f2bcb4a3]< www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/sep/04/african-women-political-influence-cultural-change>

African women won't wield political influence without ...< www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/sep/04/african-women-political-influence-cultural-change>
www.theguardian.com
The elections taking place across Africa this year present an opportunity for a rising tide of women to take political office. An enouraging precedent was set a few weeks ago, when the proportion ...

* www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/aug/16/senegal-headway-gender-equality

[https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2012/8/15/1345050711653/Mdg-Senegal-Women-in-pa-009.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&bm=normal&ba=bottom%2Cleft&blend64=aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMuZ3VpbS5jby51ay9pbWFnZXMvb3ZlcmxheXMvZDM1ODZhNWVmNTc4MTc1NmQyMWEzYjYzNWU1MTcxNDEvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&s=a1ddf089a1cbaf70281e6bbc2b0c7d2e]< www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/aug/16/senegal-headway-gender-equality>

Senegal makes headway on gender equality - but not ...< www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/aug/16/senegal-headway-gender-equality>
www.theguardian.com
A woman displays her inked finger after voting at a polling station in Fatick. Senegal's gender parity law is causing heated debate. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty In March, Senegal came of ...

* www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2016/11/09/figure-of-the-week-where-in-africa-are-the-women-leaders/

* hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/137906

* Gender Parity and the Symbolic Representation of Women in Senegal by Marianne Tøraasen from University of Bergen bora.uib.no/bitstream/handle/1956/12306/144807972.pdf?sequence=1

* allafrica.com/stories/201810090622.html

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Let's talk about feminism. -Senegalese women in Leadership positions

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On October 3rd, Dakar elected their new major, Soham El Wardini, the first post-colonial female major in Senegal. This news opened our curiosity and interest in a new topic for our program, E-jáng radio. Senegalese women in Leadership positions.

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“Senegal.” Africa, africa.unwomen.org/en/where-we-are/west-and-central-africa/senegal.

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Senegal is in the westernmost part of Africa's Sahel region, spanning 196,722 km². In 2016/17, the population is estimated at 15.4 million, with the 2013 census (its most recent) placing 23% of it in the greater Dakar region and 40% in other urban areas. Served by multiple air and maritime travel routes, Senegal is known as the "Gateway to Africa." Senegal shares common borders with five countries (Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia) and has 14 regions and 45 departments.

The Government of Senegal made significant progress for the promotion of a gender-sensitive environment, through the adoption of the Parity Law, the Standard Operating Procedures on GBV, a National Action Plan on GBV/Human Rights and the Empowerment of Women, and the validation of the new National Strategy for Gender Equality and Equity. These measures have been developed and implemented under the technical leadership of the Ministry of Woman, Family and Childhood.

Senegal's 2001 constitution guarantees equality between women and men in its article 7. The country has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (in 1985), and the Optional Protocol on violence against women (in 2000). The country has not reported to the CEDAW committee since 1994. Senegal ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in 2005.

Adopted in 2014, the Senegal Emerging Plan (PSE) is Senegal's new development strategy and economic policy reference framework. It is based on three strategic pillars: (i) structural transformation of the economy and growth; ii) human capital, social protection and sustainable development; and iii) governance, institutions, peace and security.

A National Strategy for Gender Equality and Equity (SNEEG) has been developed with the support of UN Women Senegal Program Presence to run from 2005-2015. SNEEG, updated in 2016 and aligned with the Senegal Emerging Plan (PSE), which aims to:

"Contribute to make Senegal an emerging country in 2035 with a society of solidarity in a state of law, without discrimination, where men and women will have the same opportunities to participate in its development and enjoy the benefits of its growth".

SNEEG aims to eliminate inequalities between women and men so as to ensure women's rights and protection, by ensuring their full participation in decision-making processes and equitable access to development resources and benefits.

Public policies at sectoral and territorial level are part of the process of institutionalizing the gender dimension of gender sensitive budget development. In this same perspective, parliamentarians are committed to follow the budgets for their alignment in the perspective of gender, particularly the collective of women parliamentarians.

Gender-sensitive M & E mechanisms are developed by the Ministry of women family and gender in partnership with the presidency service in charge of the BOS to produce and collect indicators and gender variables at the administrative level and at the National Statistical System level.
THEMATIC AREAS: Gender Based Violence
With reference to researches, women are the main victims of GBV in Senegal. In 2016, a GBV situation analysis carried out in Senegal1 revealed the following key facts: i) High GBV prevalence in region; ii) Conjugal space remains the main place of production with 65% of cases of violence; iii) Sexual violence is estimated to be more than 58% of cases of GBV in Senegal. Nevertheless, in its desire to eradicate GBV and promote human rights, Senegal has strengths and significant opportunities to prevail:

* The existence of a favorable legal and political framework marked by the ratification of declarations, conventions and protocols on human rights and the voting of laws, the implementation of reforms and the development of specific policies for the fight against GBV.

* The existence, since 1974, in the Government of Senegal of a ministerial department in charge of the protection of the rights of women, the family and the child.

* The installation of 16 judicial houses throughout Senegal, equipped with mechanisms of reception and support of women victims of violence.

* Establishment of national gender mainstreamed frameworks and mechanisms on GBV: (i) National, regional and departmental levels committees and the networks of imams and young people for the abandonment of FGM, (ii) the National Strategy for Gender Equity and Equality (SNEEG).

* The formulation and the implementation of programs and projects towards women and girls: The Project for the Promotion of Women's and Girls' Rights (PAPDFF)

developed with the support of UN Women over the last few years and which has supported and empowered thousand women and girls' victims of violence.

* Greater awareness of laws and remedies by local communities and the media;

* The increase and diversification of care structures at the national level.
Governance and Political Participation
Women represent 49% of the world's population and 52% of Senegal's and it is therefore crucial to ensure that decisions affecting women's lives reflect their priorities and views. For example, women tend to be more sensitive to certain issues of development such as education, nutrition or health than men. Therefore, women's participation in decision-making is not only essential for the democracy and the legitimacy of a political system-it is also necessary to ensure the quality of decisions taken and improve social development. Leading together, men and women can better reflect on and respond to the diverse needs of a society. Therefore, women's political participations bring benefits for the whole society. In fact, countries with more women in politics tend to be more successful in several areas such as the quality of governance, the quality of educational systems, infrastructure investment, and perceptions of corruption.

Senegal has gained international recognition for its efforts towards political participation of women through the adoption of the Gender Parity Law (2010). As a result of this law, which demands parity on electoral lists, the proportion of seats held by women in national parliament has increased significantly from 19.2% in 2001 to 43% in the 2017 elections. This marks a major step forward in the struggle for gender equality and the promotion of women's rights and makes Senegal a leader in women's political participation in Africa. On 30 July 2017, about 6 million Senegalese citizens voted at the legislative elections. As a result, 70 women (42%) out of 165 parliamentarians were elected compared to 64 women (39%) in 2012. Women represent 21% of ministers in the National Government (8 women out of 39 members).

Despite these progresses, regarding governance and women political participation key challenges remain in Senegal:

* It remains unclear to fully engage men in gender parity and, more generally, in the struggle for gender equality;

* The Gender Parity Law is quite unpopular among male Parliamentarian and not followed;

* The parliamentarians do not have the same understanding of the parity law and particularly the parity concept.
Women Economic Empowerment
Achieving gender equality and equity in Senegal may seem daunting in a complex socio-cultural environment marked by a strong preponderance of traditional values. However, despite women's lower social status compared to men, joint efforts paved the way for significant progress that led to a greater recognition of women's place and contribution to socio-economic growth. Women living in rural areas are highly active in the processing and marketing of agricultural, livestock and fishery products. Nonetheless, they are confronted with several hurdles of various nature, including a number of constraints that are yet to be overcome include:

* Access to land and land tenure security;

* Access to financing mechanisms;

* Access to factors of production and extension services;

* Effects of climate change;

* Access to markets.

In rural areas, the distribution of employment in different economic sectors reveals women's involvement in agriculture, livestock farming and the environment where they represent 70% of the workforce.

To mitigate these constraints heightened by climate change in Senegal, the "Women's access to land and production resources for a climate-resilient agriculture" project suggests a holistic support approach to overcome existing obstacles, and spur a genuine empowerment of women farmers.

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Senegal is in the westernmost part of Africa's Sahel region, spanning 196,722 km². In 2016/17, the population is estimated at 15.4 million, with the 2013 census (its most recent) placing 23% of it in the greater Dakar region and 40% in other urban areas.