Senegal

IN THE LOW-INCOME sub-Saharan nation of Senegal, 54 percent of the population live in poverty and 48 percent of the labor force are unemployed. Some 70 percent of Senegal's labor force are involved in subsistence agriculture, and parts of the country are subject to seasonal floods and periodic droughts. With an average annual income of $6,530, which is high for the sub-Saharan region, Senegal's wealth is divided unequally. The poorest 20 percent of the population live on 6.4 percent of the country's resources, while the richest 20 percent claim 48.2 percent. Senegal is ranked 41.3 on the Gini Index of Human Inequality. Among the poorest Senegalese, 67.8 percent live on less than $2 a day, and 26.3 percent subsist on less than $1 a day.

In the mid-1990s, Senegal instituted major economic reforms, which began a period of steady growth. As a member of the International Monetary Fund's Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program, Senegal has wiped out much of its former debts, allowing the government to direct some resources toward other areas. Despite some progress, Senegal is faced with a highly armed population that has claimed thousands of victims, 60 percent of whom are women and children. The government is suspected of widespread corruption, and the weak political system provides few measures to deal with these problems.

The Senegalese population of 11,126,832 experiences a life expectancy of 56.75 years and a median age of 18.15 years. Approximately 42.8 percent of the population are under 14 and three percent have reached the age of 65. The Senegalese have a 27.7 percent chance of failing to see a 40th birthday. While Senegal has not totally escaped the HIV/AIDS epidemic that has ravaged Africa, the country has a prevalence rate of 0.8 percent. In 2003, 44,000 people were living with the disease, and 3,500 had died from the disease or its complications.

Because 22 percent of Senegalese lack access to safe water and 30 percent lack access to improved sanitation, the Senegalese have a very high risk of contracting the food- and waterborne diseases and respiratory ailments that affect much of Africa.

In the spring of 2005, the World Health Organization recorded an outbreak of cholera in Senegal that affected several hundred residents. Vectorborne diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and Rift Valley fever pose problems in some areas. Guinea worm disease, which is caused by contact with infected water, has been wiped out in Senegal through cooperation between locals and the Carter Center of Emory University, founded by former president Jimmy Carter. Fighting diseases is complicated in Senegal by the fact that there are only 10 physicians for every 100,000 residents, and 21 to 50 percent of the population lack access to lifesaving drugs.

The Senegalese have made great strides in combating high infant mortality rates. These rates declined from 173 out of 1,000 live births in 1960 to 55.51 out of 1,000 live births in 2005. Between 1960 and 2003, the mortality rate of children under the age of 5 plummeted from 300 to 137. Despite improved mortality rates, almost one-fourth of all children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition, and six percent are severely underweight. One-fourth of children under 5 suffer from moderate to severe stunting, and eight percent suffer from moderate to severe wasting.

...