Senegal has adopted a National Social Protection Strategy (SNPS) 2015-2035.
A consortium of Senegalese civil society organisations is committed to creating the conditions for a strong consensus for increased investment in the protection of poor or vulnerable populations. To do this, it is working on a collective advocacy strategy for effective social protection.
“This strategy will produce knowledge on the issues of social protection and improve the involvement of civil society in strengthening SP policies,” explained Elimane Kane, coordinator of the project Strengthening Civil Society for Effective Social Protection (REPROSOC) implemented in the departments of Kédougou (south-east), Ranérou (north-east), Sédhiou (south), Fatick (centre) and Rufisque (west), in Dakar on Thursday.
This project is carried out by a consortium that includes the Pan-African Institute for Citizenship, Consumers and Development (Cicodev Afrique), the Research Laboratory on Economic and Social Transformations (Lartes/Ifan) and the GRDR-Migration-Citizenship and Development, in association with the Departmental Council of Rufisque.
Through its advocacy strategy, the consortium aims to produce solid knowledge that can improve the design and implementation of social protection policies and strengthen the capacities of civil society organisations to conduct effective advocacy with the main actors in social protection.
“To achieve this objective, we need to produce evidence through independent analysis and action research on social protection policy issues, and capacity building for social protection actors on the issues, mechanisms and financing of social protection policies, the production of appropriate tools, and multi-actor consultation,” explained Elimane Kane, REPROSOC coordinator.
Opening the workshop to design the collective advocacy strategy for effective social protection in Senegal, Innocence Ntap Ndiaye, President of the High Council for Social Dialogue (HCDS), recalled that Axis 2 of the Emerging Senegal Plan (PSE) is based on social protection.
“But this social protection is cross-cutting and involves immense challenges. For social protection to be effective, there must be dialogue between the various actors,” said Ms. Ndiaye, adding that advocacy is necessary for the scaling up of social protection.
TE/lb/abj/APA