From a bold vision in the Sahel to a growing pan-African movement, the SWEDD project enters its next chapter—SWEDD+—with evidence, momentum, and renewed ambition.

In 2015, six countries came together under the banner of a transformative idea: invest in girls and women to unlock the demographic dividend. Today, the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) project marks ten years of impact, having grown into a powerful regional movement that has reached millions of lives and inspired bold new commitments. As the SWEDD+ phase launches across West and Central Africa, a newly released report - SWEDD at 10: A Decade of Regional Transformation, Powered by Adolescent Girls and Young Women - captures the achievements, lessons, and way forward for this trailblazing initiative.

From pilot to pan-African platform

What started with six countries—Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania and Niger—has now grown to include 12, with The Gambia, Senegal and Togo joining the latest phase of SWEDD+. At its core, the project combines education, sexual and reproductive health, economic empowerment, and gender norm transformation.

The SWEDD model, implemented with technical leadership from UNFPA and financial backing from the World Bank, is built on three pillars:

• Demand creation: through Safe Spaces, school retention programs, and life-skills training;
• Service delivery: via expanded midwifery, supply chains, and last-mile healthcare access;
• Policy and systems strengthening: including demographic observatories and legal reforms.

A decade of measurable results

The newly released report reveals just how far the project has come:

• Thousands of Safe Spaces established across the region, supporting adolescent girls with life skills, mentorship, and health education.
• Significant increases in school retention among girls, with innovative incentives like cash transfers, bicycles, and menstrual health kits.
• Vocational training in fields like agriculture, solar energy, and media helping young women gain financial independence.
• Midwife deployment and training, including Centres of Excellence in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Niger, bringing maternal healthcare to underserved areas.
• Over 80 million people reached through regional behaviour change campaigns like Stronger Together. 

Clubs for husbands and future husbands have also shown results in transforming masculinities—fostering household support for girls’ education, reproductive health decisions, and equitable relationships.

From crisis to reform

When COVID-19 struck, SWEDD pivoted quickly. It launched digital campaigns, reoriented supply chains, and transitioned to e-learning for midwives. Ministries began taking fuller ownership of implementation, marking a shift from NGO-led delivery to public sector integration.

By 2024, SWEDD had become more than a project—it had become a regional ecosystem.

The report notes that midwifery drones, AI-powered mentoring platforms, and real-time data from Demographic Dividend Observatories now inform planning in nine countries.

The SWEDD+ horizon

The next phase, SWEDD+, is already under way, extending efforts to new countries and deepening commitments to gender equality, social norm change, and demographic resilience. It builds on ten years of field-tested models and regional solidarity, with support from ECOWAS, ECCAS, and the African Union.

The report calls for continued investment, especially in institutional capacity, national budget integration, and social norm change strategies. As the project evolves, girls’ voices, community ownership, and data-driven decision-making will remain at its heart.

Today, SWEDD stands as a compelling example of how political leadership, technical excellence and grassroots engagement can transform a regional development programme into a sustainable movement.

Report now available

SWEDD at 10: A Decade of Impact, a Transformative Vision for Tomorrow is now available DOWNLOAD offering data-rich insights, beneficiary stories, and policy recommendations for governments and partners.

SWEDD+ marks the start of a new chapter in sub-Saharan Africa, one where adolescent girls and young women shape not only their own futures but the future of the region.