Prime Minister of Canada announces funding for a research initiative in Senegal

The Prime Minister made the announcement during the official inauguration of IDRC’s Central and West Africa office located in Dakar, Senegal.

This partnership between IDRC and Global Affairs Canada aims to improve access to evidence-based, integrated, and youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services for adolescent girls. It also seeks to strengthen the leadership and capacity of adolescent girls to exercise their sexual and reproductive health rights. Research in this area is a priority at IDRC, because limited access to sexual and reproductive health services can prevent young women from realizing their full potential.

Several IDRC-supported research projects in this area have been underway since 2017 in West Africa and the Middle East. An additional five projects are generating evidence to improve policies and programs that promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health and address the root causes of sexual and gender-based violence in the region.

As an example of IDRC’s support for research in Senegal, IDRC President Jean Lebel spoke of three Senegalese partners whose work provided a solid scientific footing for reviewing Senegal’s family code and developing new laws on parity and the criminalization of rape and pedophilia.