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Country Program Materials
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USAID/Senegal Links
USAID/Senegal
Mission
Mission Director:
Local Address:
- 2130 Avenue Jean XXIII & Rue Kleber
B.P. 49
Dakar
Senegal
Tel: 221-869-6100
Fax: 221-869-6101
From the US:
- DOS/USAID Dakar Place
Washington, D.C.
20521-2130
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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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