The 31 July marks the International Day of the African Woman, a date that traces back to the 1962 Dar es Salaam Women’s Conference, which paved the way for the Pan-African Women’s Organisation in Dakar by 1974. This year, the African Union has dedicated 2026 to the theme: “Ensuring sustainable access to water and safe sanitation to achieve the goals of Agenda 2063”.
Unseen pillars of the economy: the invisible women
The backbone of Senegal’s daily life rests on the shoulders of women whose contributions go unnoticed. These women—migrants within the country, domestic workers in urban households, street vendors, and informal traders—ensure the country functions smoothly. Yet, their labour is rarely acknowledged in public policies or social debates. Access to clean water and proper sanitation, a fundamental right, remains a distant dream for many of them, often forcing them into precarious conditions that undermine their dignity and health.
While the African Union’s focus on water and sanitation is commendable, it risks overlooking the unique vulnerabilities of these women. A one-size-fits-all approach fails to address the structural inequalities they face, from lack of legal protections to exclusion from essential services. Sustainable water access without recognising their rights or contributions will not bring lasting change.
From rural villages to urban centres: the silent migration
Before crossing international borders, many women embark on a journey from rural areas to cities like Dakar. In rural Senegal, fetching water is a daily chore that falls disproportionately on women and girls, consuming time that could otherwise be spent on education or income-generating work. This burden drives many young women to migrate to urban centres, where they often find work as domestic helpers, street food vendors, or small-scale traders. According to recent studies, nearly half of Senegal’s workforce operates in the informal sector, with women making up over 51% nationally—though their representation drops to 41.5% in Dakar, where they are concentrated in the most precarious roles, lacking contracts or social security.
This internal migration is often the first step in longer migratory journeys, yet it remains largely invisible in policy discussions and public narratives.
Senegal as a land of welcome: a tradition under strain
Senegal has long been a haven for migrants from across Africa. The 2023 General Population Census (RGPH-5) records 207,791 foreign residents, accounting for 1.1% of the population, with 44.3% being women. Most hail from neighbouring countries: Guinea (40.3%), Mali (14.9%), Guinea-Bissau (4.4%), Gambia (3.0%), and Mauritania (2.1%). In border regions like Kédougou, immigrants from Mali or Guinea outnumber returning Senegalese residents.
However, this tradition of hospitality is facing growing challenges. Political rhetoric has increasingly adopted xenophobic narratives, particularly targeting certain African communities—such as Guinean Fulani migrants—accusing them of straining public schools or altering the country’s demographic balance. Calls to tighten residency conditions and revise birthright citizenship have amplified these concerns, echoing the cyclical xenophobic violence seen in South Africa, where Senegalese communities have also faced similar discrimination.
Foreign women in Senegal: doubled vulnerability
In this climate, African migrant women in Senegal face compounded challenges. Many work in domestic roles or informal trade, lacking contracts, social protections, or stable legal status. Their access to water and sanitation often depends on employers or informal networks, making them particularly vulnerable to exploitation, harassment, or violence. When collective suspicion targets entire nationalities or ethnic groups, these women—who are highly visible in both public and private spaces—become primary targets. Fear of retaliation or administrative repercussions silences many, preventing them from seeking justice.
Xenophobia is never gender-neutral; it exacerbates existing vulnerabilities for foreign women, who already face precarious employment, lack of legal safeguards, and limited access to essential services.
ECOWAS-AES rupture: new risks for Malian, Burkinabe, and Nigerien migrant workers
The ECOWAS-AES rupture in January 2026 has introduced new uncertainties for migrant women from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Previously protected under the 1979 ECOWAS Protocol, their right to free movement and residence now hinges on bilateral political declarations rather than institutional guarantees. These arrangements offer little stability, as terms can be revised unilaterally without procedural safeguards.
For domestic workers from these countries—many of whom lack proper documentation—the loss of legal protections undermines their access to essential services, including water, sanitation, healthcare, and education for their children. With Sahel security deteriorating in early 2026, an increase in female migration from Mali to Senegal is anticipated, heightening the need for vigilance from civil society and unions to ensure their rights are upheld.
Colonial borders and the politics of belonging
To understand the current surge in xenophobia, one must look beyond imported frameworks and examine the issue from within. The borders of modern Africa are largely colonial artefacts, drawn at the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference without regard for existing kinship, trade, or cultural networks. Post-colonial states, grappling with fragile legitimacy, have often resorted to policies of “autochthony”—defining who truly “belongs” to the nation at the expense of those labelled as foreigners, even after generations of residence.
This logic mirrors the Afrophobia seen in South Africa and has now resurfaced in Dakar. An anti-racist reading must acknowledge this as intra-African xenophobia—a hierarchy of belonging among Black populations that perpetuates colonial divisions, as Frantz Fanon warned in The Wretched of the Earth.
Adding a decolonial feminist lens reveals how gender categories were reshaped under colonialism and later repurposed by post-colonial nationalists to define national belonging. Foreign women, their children born in Senegal, and their roles as domestic workers become battlegrounds for controlling national borders. The push to revise birthright citizenship disproportionately targets them, threatening their access to rights and services.
Water and sanitation: the invisible frontier for migrant women
The African Union’s 2026 theme is more than a technical slogan—it directly impacts the lives of migrant women. In peripheral neighbourhoods of Dakar, access to running water and safe sanitation remains patchy, exposing women and girls to night-time insecurity. For domestic workers living with employers, access to water and toilets depends entirely on the goodwill of their hosts, with no labour laws to enforce these rights. This dependency mirrors the struggles of Senegalese domestic workers abroad and African women employed as domestic help in Senegal.
Achieving sustainable water and sanitation access under Agenda 2063 requires policies that address the specific needs of migrant women—those who leave, those who return, and those arriving from other African nations. Ignoring the neighbourhoods where migrants settle or tying service access to legal status will ensure the most vulnerable are left behind.
A two-way hospitality: sharing water, sharing dignity
The International Day of the African Woman should not be reduced to a ritual tribute. Neither should the 2026 theme remain a summit slogan. Together, they must underscore a simple political truth: without migrant women—whether Senegalese within their own country or African women in Senegal—entire sectors of the subregion’s economies would grind to a halt. Without guaranteed access to clean water and dignified sanitation, for these women in their homes, workplaces, and neighbourhoods, the goals of Agenda 2063 will remain unattainable for those who need them most. Hospitality that stops at the border, or water policies that forget these women, will miss the same historic opportunity.