BUENOS AIRES -- Senegal has made the greatest strides of any nation this decade in dealing with issues of concern to women, the head of an international women's organization said on Monday. "Senegal has taken these issues and seems to be moving the furthest ahead. They seriously addressed women's issues in health, education and female genital mutilation," President Audrey McLaughlin of International Socialist Women told Reuters. More than 140 delegates from 30 nations gathered in Argentina for the 93-year-old group's two-day conference, which discussed ways of entrenching gender perspectives in public policy.

McLaughlin cited Senegal as a trailblazing example of how a relatively high proportion of women in government and a long-term commitment to policies designed for women yield results. The West African country of 8.3 million people is noted for its progressive public policies. It was the first country to ratify a UN statute setting up the international criminal court and has implemented health and education programs aimed at women since 1975. "We can say that today women's issues are less a matter of including women in the governmental process than it is one of improving women's socioeconomic status," Senegal Family Minister Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye told the delegates.

The proportion of women elected to Senegal's National Assembly and rural administrative councils ranges from 13.6 percent to 27.3 percent, and concrete results include growth in the proportion of girls sent to school and a drop in the death rate during childbirth, Mbengue Ndiaye said. While other countries may not face the same developmental problems, few have made as long-lasting a commitment to include women in the decision-making process, Mclaughlin said.

(Reuter)