Family planning program in Senegal drawn into conflict with religious leaders

by Allyn Gaestel

Religious leaders in Senegal stymie birth control: In the majority-Muslim society, many men have multiple wives and large numbers of children. Religious leaders, who wield great influence, reject family planning as interfering with the divine order, and family planning advocates are under suspicion because of foreign funding.  Photo: Washington Post

From the corner of his family’s bustling courtyard, El Hadji Fally Diallo looked out approvingly at his large extended family. Several women with babies on their hips prepared the massive midday meal, and children studying the Koran mumbled verses to themselves.

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