The Catholic Women's Movement of Senegal supports economically vulnerable women

The women of the MFCS at the thanksgiving mass dedicated to the opening of the 2025 pastoral year

Salomé DIOUF (Senegal)

WWO Community Manager

"How can vulnerable women be helped to become autonomous?" is the main concern of Salomé Diouf, Community Manager of the World Women´s Observatory (WWO). To answer this question, Ms Salomé Diouf, who is also Vice-President of the Catholic Women's Movement of Senegal, has decided to reach out to women who are victims of economic violence. She organises educational talks for these women. These are opportunities for debate that enable her to identify their real difficulties, and then set up support strategies. It was this spirit of charity that encouraged Mrs Salomé Diouf to become Mrs Marième B. godmother. Mme. Marième is a resident of Keur Massar who aspires to become a shopkeeper. But she hasn't managed to launch her business because she lacks the financial resources.

Like most women, Marième is trying to forge a better economic future for herself. But in a context where opportunities are few and difficulties many, she is struggling to get by. That's why, in her request for help, she presents her lack of initial capital as a major obstacle to her project: "I want to develop my business. I have the desire and the determination, but without support, it's hard for me to get started".

Concrete support for a lasting impact

Once she was made aware of Marième difficulties, Salomé Diouf took the initiative of providing her with both material and moral support. A generosity that the WWO Community Manager justifies in these words: "Helping each other is essential. Offering even a small helping hand can change a life". This gesture, albeit modest, has given Marième renewed hope, and she can now see her ambition gradually becoming a reality.

Towards Greater Autonomy for Women

In her testimony, Ms Marième B. suggested that her financial precariousness is a situation that she shares with many other women in her department. Hence her wish to see this type of initiative strengthened, so that other women can benefit too: "If we, the women of Keur Massar, are better supported, we will be able to become fully independent".

Mobilising for equity and justice

Empowering women is a long-term battle that requires a collective commitment. To this end, the Mouvement des Femmes Catholiques du Sénégal (MFCS), of which Ms Salomé Diouf is an active member, regularly organises meetings with women. These meetings enable them to explore together the problems that these women endure. Then they come up with concrete solutions to the issue of economic empowerment for vulnerable women. These actions have led her to draw the following conclusion:

"We must be the voice of those who have none. It's a noble and essential mission"

The support that Salomé Diouf and her group are giving to vulnerable women in her country is in line with what the WWO calls "good practices". By supporting vulnerable women in their country, the ladies of the MFCS are showing that they are the voice of the voiceless, and that they are committed to a fairer and more equitable society. We can only hope that their fight for the autonomy of vulnerable women becomes a lasting reality.