Senegal

MSI in Senegal

Operating in a context with a low contraception prevalence rate, high maternal mortality rate and high unmet need for family planning, MSI in Senegal has been working tirelessly since 2011 to improve access to Reproductive health services across the country.

We are working in close collaboration with the government of Senegal to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services through different strategies.

Since MSI first began providing services in Senegal in 2011, the contraceptive prevalence rate has more than doubled from 13-27% (2019), significantly improving the ability for women and girls to be in control of their own future.   

Mobile outreach breaking down barriers

The programme's mobile outreach model is a demonstrated and effective approach for increasing access to family planning services for remote and rural communities.

Our team in Senegal runs 11 mobile outreach teams covering most of the country's regions. In a region with a high unmet need for family planning services and limited awareness and acceptance of them, MSI began delivering high-quality information and counselling together with voluntary short and long-acting contraception.

Our mobile teams also provide a broader range of services to increase access and to reduce the stigma often experienced by women visiting the sites, due to existing cultural and religious barriers. Thanks to outreach, many women in Senegal now have access to contraception that they otherwise would not have had.

In 2005 only an estimated 1% of Senegalese women were using modern methods of contraception, including long-acting and reversible contraception (LARC) methods. In 2020, our mobile teams delivered services to over 60,000 women.

Reaching young people

In recent years, Senegal has made great strides in increasing access to modern contraception methods. However, unmet need among key populations remains high.

Close to one in ten girls in Senegal, experience pregnancy before the age of 19. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to unintended pregnancy with a high unmet need for contraceptive methods with only 2.7% of adolescents (aged 15-19) use a modern method of contraception. 

Low use of contraception among adolescents may be in part due to a lack of information, with 54% of girls and 72% of boys reporting no exposure to family planning messaging through common media sources. This also reflects the existing stigma towards adolescent use of contraception in Senegal. 

To tip the scales in favour of self-determination for young women in Senegal, MSI Reproductive Choices is working with schools to deliver adolescent-friendly contraceptive services directly to young people - on their terms - through so-called MSI Sisters. These are a group of nurses and midwives who go into schools and universities to provide high-quality sexual and reproductive health information and services.

Read more about our work to reach young people globally