Mr. Yannick Glemarec, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, in Senegal

Mr. Yannick Glemarec, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, visited Senegal from 1 to 4 October 2017. The overall purpose of this high-level visit was to reaffirm the commitment of UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment to work closely with the Government of Senegal and all stakeholders to promote women entrepreneurship.as it is in line with the SDG agenda.

Mr. Glemarec met with the Senegalese authorities, technical and financial institutions, donors and women entrepreneurs to discuss ways of working together. He also highlighted the commitment of UN Women to play a key role in promoting women's entrepreneurship in Senegal. "Awarding 15% of public procurement to women-led SME’s could be an inspiring development for growth for Senegal," he said during his meeting with the Minister of Women, Family and Gender.

The Deputy Executive Director began his agenda with a working breakfast with UNCT / UNDG-RDT representatives in the presence of Ms. Priya Gajraj, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations and UNDP Resident Representative in Senegal. Discussions were mainly about the UN reform and the imperative need for integrated approaches to the implementation of sustainable development programs."UN reform in perspective is motivated by the necessity to adopt integrated approaches to create programmatic and operational synergies," he said.

The visit milestone was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between UN Women and the Agency for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (ADEPME).

This convention, signed by Mrs. Diana Louise Ofwona,the Regional Director of UN Women for West and Central Africa and Mr. Idrissa Diabira, General Director of ADEPME, reflects the desire of both parties to develop a sustainable partnership around common areas of interest to leverage their efforts and promote high-level political advocacy.to advance WEE in Senegal.Mr Glemarec recalled that "UN Women is firmly committed to ensuring equal access for men & women to support SMEs' growth".

Lastly, Mr Glemarec held to advocate for a strong commitment of donors to support women's entrepreneurship in Senegal.

The mission ended with a working session with donors and Mr. Glemarec emphasizing the importance of their commitment and continued collaboration with UN Women to support women’s entrepreneurship in Senegal.