On 2 October 2023, members of the delegation on the joint field visit of the Executive Boards of UNICEF, UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, WFP and UN Women, accompanied by some members of the United Nations country team, met with senior government officials. Shown are H.E. Ms. Aïssata Tall Sall, Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Senegalese Diaspora (centre), H.E. Dr. Marie Khémesse Ng Ndiaye, Minister of Health and Social Welfare (centre left) and H.E. Ms. Oulimata Sarr, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Cooperation (centre right). The 2023 joint field visit of the Executive Boards of UNICEF, UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, WFP and UN Women took place from 2 to 6 October. The delegation included 18 Member State representatives and 8 staff members from the secretariats of the six agencies. The delegation visited the Dakar and Thiès Regions and southern Senegal, where it engaged with high-level government officials, municipal authorities, civil society representatives, the private sector, local communities, youth and United Nations officials. By the end of the visit, the delegation had gained a keen understanding of how all the United Nations agencies work together to fulfil their respective mandates in support of the the Government’s national priorities. © UNICEF/UNI454435/
The 2023 joint field visit of the Executive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, UNICEF, UN-Women and WFP was organized to visit Senegal for the first time since the outbreak of Covid-19. The visit took place from 2 – 6 October under the overall coordination of UNICEF, the coordinating agency for 2023.
The visit aimed to highlight the commitment and contribution of the United Nations system in Senegal in the context of national and regional priorities. The focus was on inter-agency collaboration in the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), which is aligned with the three national priorities of the Plan for an Emerging Senegal (Plan Sénégal Emergent, or PSE), and how United Nations entities contribute to the achievement of national priorities through their country programme documents, where applicable. The visit also sought to highlight the United Nations efficiency agenda and the regional focus of its work in West and Central Africa.
The programme of the visit included an initial two and a half days in Dakar, during which the entire delegation participated in meetings and interactions with government officials, donors, civil society, the private sector, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Senegal, the United Nations country team, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, the Office of the Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel, and the Development Cooperation Office, among others.
The delegation was divided into two groups and spent two days with the support of various United Nations entities. One group visited southern Senegal (Kolda, Sédhiou and Ziguinchor Regions of Casamance) to observe WFP/UNICEF-supported school-based activities, a WFP-supported climate change resilience programme, and a UNDP/IOM-supported jobs creation programme. The second group stayed in Dakar and visited the Thiès region, some 70 kilometers east of the capital city, and observed a joint Covid-19 platform project supporting the productive sector of vulnerable groups and other UN activities in support of neonatal health, child protection, fish market renovation, women’s economic empowerment, and gender sensitivity training for the Senegalese police.
An oral report on the visit will be made at the second regular session of the Executive Board in November 2023 and a written report will be submitted to the first regular session of the Board in February 2024.
