Senegal

Santé sexuelle et reproductive en Afrique : Les jeunes filles plus touchées par la mortalité maternelle

Sexual health and education have been a prevalent and serious issue throughout Africa for several decades. The article published on LeSoleil, a popular newspaper in Dakar states that Senegal is making an effort to fight against maternal death. Maternal death affects all ages but has been most common with young girls who face early pregnancy. Mabingué Ngom, the Regional Director of the United Nations Population Fund (Unfpa) has helped create a free platform called Gindima which is essentially a hotline for sexual and reproductive health concerns and questions. Ngom stated in his speech that the reason these deaths are occurring is due to the lack of information surrounding sexual education and awareness of maternal death.

According to Ngom, Western Africa has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the world. “It is twice the world average with more than one in ten girls aged 15 to 19 giving birth”, he states. The average amount of child brides has increased due to this phenomenon and the consequences are immense.

Ngom believes that if more people had access to a free sexual health platform such as this one, they could reduce their risk of maternal death and complications. If these young girls are provided information that is essential to their health, there may not be as many teen pregnancies and early marriages.

Ngom’s platform has a potential to change the general outlook and experience with teen pregnancy and death. Through education, these young girls can make smarter choices. 

Citations:

Medecinsdumonde. “Guide Santé sexuelle et reproductive Médecins du Monde.” Issuu, issuu.com/medecinsdumonde/docs/guide_sant___sexuelle_et_reproducti.

http://www.lesoleil.sn/actualites/item/75202-sante-sexuelle-et-reproductive-en-afrique-les-jeunes-filles-plus-touchees-par-la-mortalite-maternelle.html

Senegal: Information Network Draft Version One

Senegal: Information Network Draft Version One

 

Le Soleil: This is a broadly serving newspaper that focuses on the news, politics, economics, society, regions etc. It serves as a great source for all the happenings in Senegal itself. The website is in French and it appears to act as a form of local news. It updates very frequently and it has three other main sections such as le Soleil business, le Soleil grand air, and le Soleil diaspora. It’s also interesting how it breaks up each individual section into smaller subsections such as small opinion pieces.

It can be accessed at http://www.lesoleil.sn

I chose this news source because it was the most relevant and diverse in comparison to others I came across. While domestically focused, this newspaper does a great job of reporting on many different events. I really liked how they added in opinion pieces, it helped portray the culture there. As for keeping up to date with this source, I bookmarked the page and I have put it in my reminders to check it.

 

BBC news: This traditional news source acts as a newspaper, radio station and T.V. station. Based in Britain, it also has worldwide respect and prestige as a broadcasting company. It is an excellent and trustworthy source of domestic and international news. It is divided into operational divisions and commercial divisions. The commercials divisions consist of BBC Worldwide, BBC World News, BBC Studios and BBC Studioworks.  Moreover, it has individual country profiles detailing their politics, media, population size etc.

It can be accessed at http://www.bbc.com/news

I chose this source because of its accuracy, reliability, and familiarity. It not only shares domestic and international news but it does an excellent job of staying impartial. In order to keep up to date with this news source, I will bookmark the tab so I can go back and add it to my calendar reminders to read. Moreover, I will add it to my global news on my phone. I will check it daily.

 

Radiodiffusion Television Senegalaise (RTS): This audio-based source is a state-run form of television and radio broadcasting in Senegal. Most audio sources in Senegal are private, as such RTS is one of the more relevant and accurate forms of broadcasting.  It operates Chaine Nationale and Senegal Internationale, Dakar FM and regional services. It is also broken up into actualités (news), emissions (channels) and many others. RTS is broadcasted in French and the website appears to have a diverse amount of news portrayed.

It can be accessed at http://www.rts.sn and on most social media sites such as Facebook, google plus, Instagram, and Twitter.

I chose this audio source because I thought it encompassed well the radio coverage of Southern Africa, specifically Senegal. It was also in French, their native language which helps diversify the source. As RTS is on most social media platforms, I have followed them on facebook and twitter. I have also added them to my favorites. It also appears that they update very frequently; daily it appears.

 

CIA World Factbook: This source works as a data source for Senegal. The CIA World Factbook is an excellent reference for an overview of a specific country. In this case, the fact book outlines Senegal through its geography, society, government, economy, energy, military etc. For each section, it provides a detailed outline of the country’s profile in general. It also gives several relevant statistics surrounding the country’s infrastructure and economic development.

This source can be accessed at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sg.html

I chose this data source because of the relevance of the CIA. The CIA is a world-renowned organization that has an extremely prestigious role. In this way, the information portrayed on the website is very accurate and reliable. I already use the CIA World Factbook for several projects I work on, so keeping up to date should not be an issue. Nevertheless, I will also bookmark the page. This source will not likely be updated for at least a year, however.

 

Amnesty Sénégal: I chose this source for the social media component of my country. Amnesty International is an organization that is well known around the world. Thus, Amnesty Sénégal is a domestic form of the organization focused on the events and happenings in Senegal. Amnesty Sénégal is focused on the promotion and the protection of human rights in Senegal and in the World. I found their main social media site on twitter, but they are also in a sub-index on Amnesty International. Both of these sites are in French and contain relevant events pertaining to human rights violations and efforts.

They can be accessed at https://twitter.com/AmnestySenegal or @AmnestySenegal and http://www.amnesty.sn

I chose this source because of how closely I align with their mission. Moreover, this source provides a great reference to the efforts of Senegal in fighting human rights violations. As I am in a Human Rights Class at this moment, I will be regularly checking sites such as this one. I will also follow them on Twitter and bookmark Amnesty International.

 

Senego: I chose Senego as my new media source. Senego is a mix between a news source and a BuzzFeed article. While not literally credible, Senego gives us a good grasp into the culture and societal expectations surrounding Senegal. It is divided into Politique, People, Sport, TV, and Rubriques which divides it further into smaller indexes. The whole website is in French and appears to be a frequent source for young adolescents in Senegal.

It can be accessed here: https://senego.com

I chose this source because I can see how it is part of popular culture. It is interesting how the website is divided into small subsections such as humor, TV, and health. I think it’s a very new approach to new media. Thus, in order to monitor it, I will attach a bookmark to the page and make sure that I add it to my calendar on reminders.

I began my search with the OSU libraries website. I clicked on the research databases list and from there I found a list of sources pertaining to Senegal. Most of these sources were very confusing to decipher where their source was truly from. Some sources were from main sources such as the New York Times and Washington Post, but in general, it was very difficult to find an accurate source. On BBC’s website, it said that Senegal was very well versed in reporting and media usage. Nevertheless, through my search it proved much more difficult then I had imagined. Most sites appeared as spam like they couldn’t be loaded. When I found websites they were always in French. Luckily I am a French major so this part did not phase me. But in terms of covering a global perspective, I did not find that. I found that domestically Senegal did a great job with reporting but globally Senegal is not portrayed very frequently.  What was most beneficial in regards to my search was using BBC’s Senegal Profile. In this profile, it outlined the media and newspaper usage. For the future, I think I will start my research earlier and make sure to use keywords which will make the information appear more quickly.

Senegal: ‘Completely White’ Whitening Cream Stirs Outrage

There is increasing outrage surrounding a new skin lightening product called Khess Petch in Senegal. While skin lightening products have been banned in most countries, skin lightening has become a common practice in African countries. Carole Ouédraogo states that 25% of women in Bamako and Mali use skin lightening products along with 35% in South Africa and 52% in Senegal.

The widespread use of skin lightening products in Africa has become a common practice based on the aftermath of colonization, slavery but also because of ingrained eurocentric stigmas surrounding beauty.

Khess Petch is causing a huge controversy on the internet. The increasing significance of colorism is a huge issue but the effects and consequences of Khess Petch are colossal. As Khess Petch contains products such as bleach, it can cause stretch marks, acne, and hypertension. This product is not safe at all to use and people all over the world are trying to put a stop to it. That being said there is an ongoing campaign against Khess Petch and over 1000 signatures were gained in just 4 days.

This is a very relevant and difficult problem to deal with, but people have been coming together and creating awareness projects surrounding it, getting celebrities like top model Ajuma Nasenyana to fight against its advertisement and teaching in schools about this ongoing problem.

 

Thierno. “Les dangers de la dépigmentation.” Guineelibre, guineelibre.over-blog.com/article-les-dangers-de-la-depigmentation-115402080.html.

“Senegal: ‘Completely White’ Whitening Cream Stirs Outrage · Global Voices.” Global Voices, 21 Sept. 2012, globalvoices.org/2012/09/21/senegal-completely-white-whitening-cream-stirs-outrage/.