Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko expressed his indignation at the extent of the begging in Senegal. Speaking on the sidelines of the hiking organized this Saturday, April 12, 2025 by the Directorate of the Promotion of Rights and the Protection of Children (DPDPE), he condemned the trivialization and the growing professionalization of this phenomenon, especially in children.
“I have instructed the secretary general of the government to integrate, in my communication in the Council of Ministers, a specific point on public begging. This scourge has become unbearable. It must be eradicated, “he said.
Ousmane Sonko particularly denounced the exploitation of children in the street: “It is not only children who are lying, but their exhibition at the crossroads, dressed in rags to reach out, is unacceptable. Nothing can justify this ”.
The Head of Government also alerted to a new form of organized begging: “The Minister of Family and Solidarity pointed out to me that we are witnessing today a professionalization of begging. QR codes are used to make transfers directly to operators, without going through the child. It is unacceptable ”.
Ousmane Sonko concluded by reaffirming the determination of the authorities to put an end to this practice: “The state will act firmly. We cannot tolerate that children are instrumentalized to be begging in our streets, ”he suggested.
