Continental Anticipation Around a Pivotal Gathering
The Senegalese capital is preparing to welcome delegations from twenty-four African states on 10 and 11 October for the summit « By the Girls, For the Girls », a meeting that aspires to recast adolescent girls from passive beneficiaries into genuine policy actors. Driven by the Government of Senegal with technical support from the United Nations Children’s Fund, the conference is framed as a diplomatic laboratory where education, health, legal protection and economic inclusion will be examined through the prism of girls’ lived experiences. Organisers underline that the event is fully aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 as well as the UN Generation Equality blueprint (UN Women 2021), positioning Dakar as a hub of forward-looking, multilateral cooperation.
Brazzaville’s Consultations: Elevating Young Voices
Weeks before delegates board flights to Dakar, the Republic of the Congo conducted a two-day national workshop in Brazzaville, convened jointly by the Ministry of Youth and the Ministry for the Promotion of Women. Representatives of vulnerable households, civil society leaders and development partners—including UNICEF and Plan International—were invited to draft a consensus document that will inform the Congolese negotiating brief. Participants prioritised safe schooling, the eradication of early marriage and the expansion of adolescent-friendly health services. Speaking at the close of the session, Youth Minister Hugues Ngouélondélé described the exercise as « a deliberate shift from talking about girls to listening to them », emphasising the government’s resolve to honour international commitments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Strategic Themes: Education, Protection and Social Norms
Across the continent, 33 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 are still out of upper-secondary school, while harmful practices such as child marriage affect one in three women aged 20 to 24 in certain regions (UNICEF 2022 data). Dakar’s agenda therefore clusters around three strategic levers. The first is educational resilience, with discussions on reducing classroom dropout rates through targeted cash transfers and digital learning platforms. The second is protection, notably the enforcement of age-of-marriage legislation and the fight against female genital mutilation, areas where Senegal and the Congo have both strengthened legal frameworks in recent years. The third lever concerns social norm transformation—an admittedly less tangible domain, yet one that diplomats view as indispensable for sustainable change. Senegalese civil-society leader Bineta Diop notes that « shifting mentalities requires the same political stamina as passing a budget ».
Multilayered Partnerships Bolstering Regional Diplomacy
What distinguishes the forthcoming conclave is its architecture of partnerships. Beyond ministerial delegations, private-sector actors from fintech and agribusiness will join to explore mentorship schemes, while philanthropic organisations such as the Mastercard Foundation are expected to announce fresh scholarship funds. UNICEF’s West and Central Africa office has confirmed that its technical teams will facilitate thematic clinics on disability inclusion and adolescent participation. For Congo-Brazzaville, which recently endorsed the AU Continental Education Strategy for Africa, the summit offers a platform to showcase domestic initiatives such as the expansion of community learning centres in Pool Department. Observers in Dakar suggest that this type of peer-exchange diplomacy can accelerate scaling of successful pilot programmes across borders.
A Diplomatic Avenue Toward Equitable Development
In a region where the median age hovers around nineteen, investing in girls is not merely a moral imperative but a strategic necessity. The Dakar summit arrives at a moment when post-pandemic recovery plans are being finalised and climate finance discussions gain traction; both arenas will benefit from the analytical lens that adolescent girls bring to resource allocation and community resilience. As Maïssa Abdellaoui, UNICEF Senegal’s lead on girls’ empowerment, reiterates, « We are crafting a space in which young women influence the public policies that shape their futures. » When delegations disperse on 11 October, success will be measured less by communiqués than by the national budgets, legislative amendments and local campaigns that follow. For Brazzaville, Dakar and their continental peers, the task ahead is clear: translate summit rhetoric into durable, life-changing opportunities for every African girl.