Encouraging Participation of Women and Youth (SN0010)

What is the public issue that the commitment will address? Senegal has undertaken several reforms and measures to consolidate the role and place of young people and women in public life. These include Law No. 2010-11 of 28 May 2010 instituting absolute gender parity in elective and semi-elective bodies, the National Gender Equity and Equality Strategy, the institutionalization of gender units in ministries, and the introduction of quotas for access to certain positions of responsibility. This positive discrimination in favour of women and young people has gradually become established as a practice in some decision-making bodies, particularly at the level of local authorities. However, it must be acknowledged that the level of participation of women and especially young people in decision-making bodies is relatively low, particularly in view of their demographic weight and potential.

What are the objectives of the commitment? The main objective of this commitment is to improve participatory governance. More specifically, it aims at: • raising awareness of the actors on the issues of the participation of women and young people in decision-making bodies • strengthening the representation of women and young people in decision-making bodies.

How would the commitment contribute to solving the public issue? This commitment will help to increase the level of participation of women and young people in decision-making bodies.

Why is this commitment relevant to the OGP values? This commitment refers to the values and principles of inclusion, equity and citizen participation. 37

Further Information Women represent 52.2% and young people under 20 54% of the total population (ANSD 2019).

Important activity with a verifiable deliverable Agenda Start Closure 1. Assess the contribution of women and young people in decision-making bodies January 2022 December 2023 2. Strengthen the capacities of one hundred thousand (100,000) women and young members of associations in terms of leadership and citizen participation (training in clusters from the local authorities) January 2022 September 2023 3. Organize two awareness campaigns for young people and women on political and civic participation January 2022 December 2023 4. Advocate with the authorities for a better participation of young people in elective and semi-elective bodies. January 2022 December 2023 5. Strengthen the leadership and management capacities of 20 women's and youth associations in 4 regions (axes) January 2022 December 2023 6. Strengthen the capacity of 20 local authorities in Gender Responsive Programme Budget January 2022 December 2023 7. Publish a practical guide and create a platform January 2022 December 2023

Action Plan Review

Commitment 10: Strengthening the Participation of Women and Youth in Decision-Making Bodies

Results Report

Commitment 10. Strengthening the Participation of Women and Youth in Decision-Making Bodies

The main objective of this commitment was to improve inclusion of women and young people in participatory governance. Implementation made some progress towards the first aim to raise awareness on the issues of the participation of women and young people in decision-making bodies. However, there was no evidence of progress towards the more ambitious second aim to strengthen the representation of women and young people in decision-making bodies.

The commitment was implemented jointly by youth and women's organizations and the administration. Most of these commitment millstones were completed by the National Youth Council (Conseil national de la jeunesse du Sénégal, CNJS), a civil society organization that brings together more than 17,000 youth associations and is represented on Senegal's OGP NTC. According to Mr Abdouramane Cisse [29], the following milestones have been completed: capacity-building in leadership and civic participation for 100,000 women and young people, the organization of two awareness-raising campaigns for young people and women on participation in political and civic life, capacity-building for 20 women's and young people's associations on leadership and management, and advocacy for a better participation of young people in elective and semi-elective bodies. It should also be noted that the youth guide that was supposed to be drafted has existed since 2020 and is available online on the CNJS website. [30]

Despite these efforts, IRM did not find evidence that these activities contributed to greater participation of women or youth in government. These activities would have likely taken place regardless of the OGP commitment as they were part of an overall CNJS activity called the “Youth Academy”, organized between June and August 2023, in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. IRM did not find evidence that these efforts would continue following the program. Moreover, they were focused solely on young people, with activities to advance women’s participation in government not evident. This commitment could have achieved significant results if it had measurably contributed to institutionalization of youth and women’s participation in government, such as through implementation of the 2010 Gender Parity Law. [31] The representative of the National Youth Council [32] reported that a draft bill on the participation of young people in governance had been drawn up and submitted to the National Assembly, backed up by an advocacy to the President of the Republic. The draft law was not available for review.

The remaining milestones have not been completed, in particular to assess the contribution of women and young people in decision-making bodies and to strengthen the capacity of 20 local authorities in the Gender Responsive Program Budget.

[29] Mr Abdouramane Cisse, Representative of the National Youth Council of Senegal on OGP-NTC, interviewed by the IRM researcher by WhatsApp call on December 2, 2023.

[30] “ GUIDE DE LA JEUNESSE CNJS 2020. » National Youth Council of Senegal. 2020. https://cnjsenegal.sn/guide-de-la-jeunesse-cnjs-2020/

[31] For more information on the assessment of the commitments’ design, see Senegal Action Plan Review: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/senegal-action-plan-review-2021-2023/

[32] Mr Abdouramane Cisse, Representative of the National Youth Council of Senegal on OGP-NTC, interviewed by the IRM researcher by WhatsApp call on December 2, 2023.