Senegal

Former NY Ambassador Abdou Salam Diallo sent supportive letter to HRW in 2013 following release of the draft Guidelines. Amb Diallo is currently posted to Madrid. Spain and Norway embassy in Madrid were given a heads up about this and encouraged to reach out to him. Bilateral contacts with the NY Mission (third Committee expert) over the summer and early fall: the mission made a favorable recommendation to their capital re the Safe Schools Declaration. Counterparts at MFA have not raised objections to the content of the Guidelines/Declaration but have to finalize the decision-making process. Outreach letter sent in advance of CAAC Open Debate.

August 2016: CAAC Open Debate: “We take this opportunity to strongly condemn the militarization of schools and hospitals. Firing on ambulances and schools must cease.”

September 2016: HRW (Bede) recommended Tony Lake (UNICEF) to prioritise Senegal for advocacy on SSD. Diya emailed Mission 18 August.

January 2017: Meeting with Vero in GVA. Asked a lot of questions. Had a legal background and we discussed how the Guidelines complement IHL, their non-legally binding nature, how the interaction with armed groups was undertaken by Geneva Call and ICRC etc. He was also very interested by our collaboration with the ICRC. I mentioned the NY UN mission 2013 letter, their participation in the core group in 2014, and the interest from their mission in Addis in 2015. His advice was for us to be more visible during the Human Right Council.

April 2017: HRW in contact with NY mission (Pierre). The mission advised that the minister doesn’t want to sign on. Their view is this just repeats IHL so it’s pointless to sign on. HRW made the pitch for the declaration’s progressive elements on use and occupation of schools but he didn’t seem to think that would sway views in capital. That said – he offered that their mission is willing to support any efforts we may want to try to coordinate to get Security Council action on the file since they’re in theory supportive.

May 2017: the Regional Education in Emergencies Working Group in Senegal, in particular UNICEF Senegal and PLAN Senegal, will work together to advocate for the government of Senegal to endorse the Declaration, and to become a key partner on the Safe Schools process. It is hoped that the government will host a planned workshop on the Declaration in the West and Central Africa Region.

August 2017: Vero met with the expert in the Mission of Senegal in Geneva. He is supportive and is preparing a strategy for implementation for his Ministry. He advised that Senegal will not endorse unless a plan for implementation has been developed. Vero shared the toolkit and Ministries paper. The expert would like to receive the framework for action once it is ready. The representative said that he will continue to inform the authorities of any up-dates he receives, which they seem follow closely the process and are open to engage. From the Capital they asked a clear strategy on what the implementation would mean for Senegal. Vero shared the documents with him during the meeting and is eagerly waiting for the Framework for Action. He asked some information related to how to monitor the implementation by states and whether we were sending them regularly some questionnaires on progress. He pointed out that in the continent, 50% of the population is under 18, and education should be a priority. He thinks the Safe School Declaration makes perfect contribution in Africa. But even if MOFA is positive, Senegal MoE do not consider the initiative relevant as they have security in their schools, but the problem is more related to corporal punishment. Vero mentioned GCPEA research on gangs that might be of interest. Vero also recommended that we visit the CEDEAO, and answered that in the meantime it would be great if Senegal could take a leadership role at the CEDEAO, AU on this issue. GCPEA issued letters to the Ministers of Education and Foreign Affairs of Senegal to encourage endorsement.

September 2017: GCPEA sent a letter to the ambassador in New York asking to raise the issue on attacks and military use and to endorse the Declaration during the Open Debate on children and armed conflict. We also mentioned AU call to endorse.

October 2017: Statement at Arria formula meeting: Closer cooperation in regional and sub-regional contexts – the role of the AU; School and access to an education is a privilege even in times of peace so destroying this right is a heinous crime; Believe the SSD should be signed by all; there is no reason why it is not signed by all; need to be tackled in a better way by the SC and all with mandate regarding peace-keeping operations.

October 2017: GCPEA wrote to the expert in Geneva to request an update, share the Open Debate letter, and highlight the statement of the expert in New York during the Arria formula meeting, who stated that all states should endorse the Declaration. He responded to express his personal support and pledged to follow up.

October 2017: Plan International in Dakar sought a meeting with the MFA and shared a letter from GCPEA encouraging endorsement.

May 2018: Zama amet with Mamadou Racine and Saliou Niang Dieng, First Counsellors. UN mission was experiencing a lot of staff turnover, so Senegal will likely need following up to keep endorsement on the radar. They are also planning on making statement at CAAC debate, but again, there is a need for follow up .

August 2018: Sent an email to the mission in Geneva requesting for a meeting. No response.

September 2018: Ahead of the UN WPS open debate, GCPEA a letter addressed to Foreign Minister sent to the Mission in New York. The letter encourages the government to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and advocate for continued access to quality, conflict-sensitive education for women and girls.

January 2019: Human Rights Watch’s submitted on Senegal to CESCR with a request for the Committee to call on Senegal to join the Safe Schools Declaration.

April 2019: GCPEA (Zama) met with the Second Counsellor in the Permanent Mission in New York. They expressed interest in the Spain conference and recommended to reach out to the Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to encourage participation. They mentioned the possibility of referring to the Safe Schools Declaration during the UN Open Debate on children and armed conflict.

May 2019: Participated in the Third International Conference in Palma.

Note** from January- Deceber 2019: Senegal is president of the Human Rights Council.

October 2019: I met with the Deputy Permanent Representative in New York. He felt endorsement would be consistent with his government’s education policy, and responded well to advocacy points on the role they can play in a region affected by the issue. I highlighted UNICEF’s report which shows that the number of schools forced to close due to rising insecurity in West and Central Africa tripled between 2017 an 2019. He underlined that that education is a priority for Senegal, and shared that his President had co-hosted the GPE Financing Conference in Dakar in February 2018. We briefly discussed the abduction of girls by Boko Haram and the horrific and long-term suffering for female students and teachers in Nigeria. We also spoke about the role of peacekeepers in protecting education in conflict, and the fact that all troop-contributing countries for such missions commit not to use schools in their operations (several countries where Senegalese peacekeepers have been deployed have already endorsed). Follow-up: Letter for Foreign Minister, gender recommendations, the factsheet on the implementation of the Declaration, and key points on why they should endorse. He responded to my email to inform that he had transmitted the information to capital and had recommended endorsement.

February 2020: Human Rights Watch made a submission ahead of the 77th pre-session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) relating to Senegal’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Included in the submission was background information on the military use of schools in the country and strong recommendations for the consideration of the Committee in the area of pre-deployment training, policies and programmes on the protection for schools and universities from military use during armed conflict and the endorsement and domestication of the Safe Schools Declaration, and the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.

March 2021: GCPEA (Nevena), Save the Children Regional Office and Country Office had a brief call with the Ministry of Education to discuss endorsement of the Declaration and to share information about the process. The Ministry promised to review the information shared and to discuss the question of endorsement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

October 2021: cosponsored UNSRC2601.

October 2022: On 28 October, Apolline and Nevena met in person with Mr. Samba Thiam Niasse, First Secretary at the NY mission. We encouraged Senegal to take concrete steps to implement the SSD – such as updating their military manuals and policies and incorporating the Guidelines. We shared examples of good practices, particularly in the region. We briefed the delegate on the state-led implementation network and encouraged them to identify focal points within the relevant ministries to join the activities. We raised the idea of organising a workshop in Dakar on SSD implementation with other countries in the region. The delegate was very supportive of this idea and encouraged us to follow up with more information, once and if this workshop moves forward. He also noted that Senegal is currently presiding over the African Union. Lastly, the delegate explained that the previous DPR in NY was now based in Malaysia. He is very supportive of the SSD and could participate in the Malaysia Conference.

November 2022: Endorsed the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA) on 18 November during an International Conference hosted by Ireland, the leader and penholder behind the Declaration.

February 2024: On 28 February, Apolline met with Dr. Saliou Sene, from the Ministry of Education of Senegal, to discuss the follow up to the sahel workshop. Dr. Sene explained that before Senegal can hope to establish a technical committee on the SSD and adopt an action plan, they need support from GCPEA members in Dakar (Plan, Save and UNICEF) to raise the visibility of the SSD in the MoE and other concerned ministries. He is proposing to organise a briefing on the SSD in the coming months but he needs the members on the ground to take the lead on this. Apolline will organise a call with Daouda and Mariam to discuss how/if they can support this request in Dakar.