Senegal tackles child begging among talibés in Diourbel

During a visit to Diourbel, a central region of Senegal, Minister Moussa Balla Fofana reignited a long-standing national debate: the issue of child begging among talibés. The government official described the practice as one of the most pressing societal challenges in Senegal, signaling renewed executive commitment to an issue bridging social welfare, religious traditions, and state responsibility.

Diourbel: A symbolic battleground for the talibés debate

The selection of Diourbel was deliberate. The area, neighboring Touba and a key part of the Mouride religious sphere, hosts numerous daaras—traditional Quranic schools that attract thousands of children from across Senegal and neighboring countries. It is within this religious and educational network that the practice of sending children into the streets to beg for daily alms under the guise of religious instruction persists.

By acknowledging the sensitivity of the issue, Moussa Balla Fofana highlights the delicate balance at play. Public statements on talibés intersect with respect for Sufi brotherhoods, the social standing of Quranic teachers, and the state’s duty to protect minors exposed to street hazards, accidents, and various forms of exploitation. Past administrations have repeatedly vowed to remove children from the streets, yet the practice has proven stubbornly persistent.

An issue at the crossroads of social welfare and governance

The minister emphasized the structural nature of the problem. Behind child begging lies a web of rural poverty, internal migration, mismanagement of Quranic schools, and child protection failures. Efforts to modernize daaras, promised since the early 2000s, remain incomplete. While legal frameworks exist—such as the child protection code and penalties for forcing minors into begging—their enforcement often hinges on local power dynamics.

For the new administration that took office in 2024, this issue serves as a political litmus test. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s government has prioritized social recovery, with a focus on youth empowerment, education, and family dignity. Addressing talibés’ begging directly means challenging a status quo few governments have dared to disrupt. Child rights advocates have long documented appalling conditions in urban daaras—overcrowding, violence, and lack of healthcare—highlighted in multiple NGO reports in recent years.

What immediate public response can be expected

The minister’s address to local stakeholders suggests that decisions are in development. Traditional policy levers include: modernizing and regulating daaras, strengthening state oversight of child migration flows, and providing socio-economic support to vulnerable households, the primary source of talibés recruitment. The success of any intervention will depend on the government’s ability to engage religious authorities—particularly those in Touba, Tivaouane, and Médina Baye—without disrupting dialogue.

A critical challenge remains: resources. Sheltering street children, ensuring their schooling, and providing potential food assistance in reformed daaras require sustained funding and a robust inter-ministerial framework involving Education, Family Affairs, Interior, and Justice. Without centralized coordination, past street removal operations in Dakar have consistently seen children return to begging within weeks.

Moussa Balla Fofana’s visit to Diourbel signals a shift toward grounding the debate in affected communities rather than remaining confined to ministerial offices in the capital. The challenge now is turning rhetoric into actionable policy, a demand echoed by child protection organizations and families alike. The minister has committed to continued consultations with local actors.