The year 2023 was a significant milestone in the efforts of the SWEDD project to empower women and reduce gender inequality. This progress paved the way for the SWEDD+ era.

The three components of the project enabled substantial progress during the year, despite the challenges posed by difficult contexts in some countries. Component 1 on communication, social mobilization and the empowerment of women finalized the national communication strategies in many countries. Component 2 on reproductive health far exceeded its objectives. Component 3 laid the foundation for capacity-building and political commitment on key demographic issues.

Through its targeted interventions, the SWEDD project has brought about tangible changes in the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable adolescent girls and women whose future prospects have improved. The challenge remains to transform these quantitative advances into lasting qualitative impacts on their daily lives.

The launch of the SWEDD+ project in 2024 opens up promising new prospects for deepening and extending the impact of SWEDD in the region. SWEDD+ aims to accelerate progress towards the empowerment of women and girls by building on the achievements and lessons learned from previous phases. SWEDD+ promises to be a major lever for achieving the ambitious targets set by countries in terms of the demographic dividend and gender equality by capitalizing on a knowledge base, a network of partners and a model of integrated interventions that have been strengthened over the years.

In 2024, it will be crucial to deepen and extend the scale of SWEDD interventions to anchor the gains and ensure that every woman and girl in the SWEDD countries benefits fully from this innovative project, paving the way towards greater equality.