During a recent visit to Diourbel, located in central Sénégal, Minister Moussa Balla Fofana brought renewed attention to a persistent issue that has challenged public policy for decades: the begging of talibé children. The minister characterized this situation as one of the most sensitive subjects within Senegalese society, indicating the executive branch’s renewed intent to tackle this complex matter intersecting social welfare, religious practice, and state authority.
Diourbel: a symbolic focal point for the talibé debate
Diourbel’s selection as a venue was quite deliberate. This region, adjacent to Touba and a vital center of the Mouride brotherhood, hosts a significant concentration of daaras, the traditional Quranic schools. These institutions educate thousands of children arriving from across Sénégal and the broader West Africa region. It is precisely within this interwoven religious and educational fabric that the practice of sending children onto the streets to solicit daily alms, ostensibly for religious instruction, persists.
By acknowledging the profound sensitivity of this topic, Minister Fofana highlighted a delicate balance. Any public discourse concerning talibé children often confronts the deep respect accorded to religious brotherhoods, the esteemed social standing of Quranic teachers, and the state’s imperative to protect minors vulnerable to street life, accidents, and various forms of exploitation. Historically, Senegalese authorities have frequently announced initiatives to remove children from public thoroughfares, yet these efforts have consistently struggled to achieve a lasting reduction in the practice.
The issue: where social challenges meet state governance
The minister emphasized the structural nature of this problem. Beyond the visible issue of child begging, deeper concerns emerge, including rural poverty, internal migration patterns, the oversight of Quranic institutions, and comprehensive child protection in Sénégal. The long-promised modernization of daaras, a commitment made by successive administrations since the early 2000s, remains an unfulfilled project. While legal frameworks exist, such as the child protection code and penal provisions against exploiting others for begging, their practical enforcement is heavily influenced by local power dynamics.
For the new administration, which came into power following the 2024 political transition, this issue represents a significant political test. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s government has prioritized social upliftment, pledging to reinvest in youth development, education, and family dignity. Directly confronting talibé child begging means addressing a delicate equilibrium that few previous governments have dared to disrupt. Child rights advocates consistently raise alarms about living conditions in certain urban daaras, where overcrowding, violence, and inadequate healthcare provision have been extensively documented by numerous NGO reports in recent years.
Immediate public policy responses on the horizon
The minister’s address, delivered to local stakeholders, suggests that policy decisions are currently being formulated. Government plans typically revolve around three key strategies: modernizing and regulating daaras, enhancing state oversight of children separated from their families, and providing socio-economic support to the most vulnerable households, which often serve as the primary source for talibé recruitment. The efficacy of any public policy concerning this matter will hinge on the government’s ability to engage constructively with religious authorities, especially the influential centers in Touba, Tivaouane, and Médina Baye, without jeopardizing ongoing dialogue.
The question of resources remains paramount. Providing shelter for street children, ensuring their schooling, and potentially offering food support within reformed daaras necessitates a sustained budget and a robust inter-ministerial framework, involving the ministries of Education, Family, Interior, and Justice. Without centralized coordination, past ad-hoc operations to remove children from the streets, previously attempted in Dakar, consistently saw children return within weeks.
Minister Moussa Balla Fofana’s visit to Diourbel signals, at the very least, a clear intention to ground this critical debate within the affected communities rather than confining it to the capital’s ministerial offices. The challenge now lies in translating these pronouncements into an actionable operational roadmap, eagerly awaited by both child protection organizations and families. He has committed to continuing consultations with local stakeholders.
