Official Launch of The SWEEDD+ Project Support More Girls on The Road to Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa

H.E. Madam Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, Vice-President of ECOWAS Commission, presided over the official launch of the Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend in Sub-Saharan Africa Plus (SWEDD+) project, this Monday, December 16, 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria.

In her speech at this important event, H.E. Madame Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, stated that this event marks an important milestone in the collective efforts to unleash the full potential of women and girls in the west African region. “Women and girls are the backbone of our societies, and for that reason their empowerment is crucial to achieving sustainable development, economic growth, and social progress” she said.

The ceremony was also addressed by Prof. Fatou Sow SARR, ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs, Madame Fatima HARAM ACYL, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Finance, in charge of the Economy and Planning of Chad, representing the Minister of State, Dr Sennen HOUNTON, Director of the United Nations Population Fund Regional Office – Regional Office for West and Central Africa (UNFPA-BRAOC), Ms. Eleonora CAVAGNERO, Project Team Leader / World Bank (TTL-BM), Dr. Melchior Athanase J. C. AÏSSI, Director General of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) and representatives of the Ministers of Health and Social Affairs of Nigeria, Togo and Senegal.

Launched in November 2015 with financial support from the World Bank, technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the West African Health Organization (WAHO), and through a strategic partnership with the African Union, the Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend in the Sahel “SWEDD+” project is a regional initiative born out of a call from the Heads of State of Sahel countries committed to reducing the vulnerability of their populations and addressing the challenges of population growth.

The main objective of the SWEDD+ project is to accelerate the demographic transition in order to create the conditions for a Demographic Dividend (DD) through the empowerment of women and the reduction of gender inequalities. This is a Project of regional scope launched in November 2015 and currently includes nine (9) West and Central African countries, namely Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. It opened with the accession of six countries: the Republic of Congo, Gambia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Togo and Chad. It also includes two regional institutions: the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

The launch of this major project will be accompanied by a technical meeting of experts to assess the current state of project implementation in the five beneficiary countries and at regional level. On the meeting agenda will be an assessment of the SWEDD 2 project (its achievements, challenges, lessons learned and prospects); a review of the level of implementation of the SWEDD+ project; and an analysis of the state of implementation of the SWEDD+ 2024-2025 work plans.

It should be recalled that the SWEDD+ project is a regional initiative that contributes to strengthening adolescent girls’ and young women’s life skills and knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, encouraging girls to stay in school, creating economic opportunities for adolescent girls and young women, and preventing gender-based violence by tackling its deep roots.

The project has three (03) core components that serve as the basis for planning activities at regional and beneficiary country levels: Component 1: Design and implement transformative gender interventions across the 4Es to promote the social and economic empowerment of girls and women; Component 2: Strengthen regional capacity and availability of SRMNIN products and skilled health workers; Component 3: Foster commitment and capacity for policy development and project implementation.

Since 2015, SWEDD has implemented a holistic set of interventions that have had a significant impact on the lives of adolescent girls, women and communities. The project has helped nearly one million girls stay in school through interventions such as scholarships, meals, transportation, and provided economic opportunities to over 150,000 young women. It has created over 8,000 safe spaces for women and girls, with almost half a million members, and almost 5,000 clubs for husbands and future husbands, with over 85,000 members, to promote greater male involvement in domestic responsibilities and break harmful gender norms.

Finally, the SWEED project has provided access to modern family planning for over a million new contraceptive users, with 76% of supported health facilities no longer experiencing stock-outs, and supported the training of 14,000 midwives who have been deployed as part of the quality assurance of reproductive health services.