2025 UHC Day Champion
Solange Mbaye
Regional Programme Manager for Amref Health Africa, Senegal
Browse other champions
- Countries driving UHC progress
- Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite, Founder and President of UNITE - Parliamentarian’s Network for Global Health
- Dr. Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Vice Chair and Senior Advisor, International Health Policy Program Foundation, Thailand
- Solange Mbaye, Regional Programme Manager for Amref Health Africa, Senegal
- Levy Mkandawire, Programme Manager for Amref Health Africa, Zambia
- Concepta Kwaleyela, President of the Midwives Association of Zambia
- Professor Anne Beatrice Kihara, Former President of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kenya
- Hester Mkwinda Nyasulu, Country Manager for Amref, Malawi
- Habibou Ouedraogo, Health Economist, Ministry of Health, Burkina Faso
- Hon. Hyun-Young Shin, Congresswoman, 21st National Assembly of Republic of Korea
UHC will become a reality when adolescents and youth are meaningfully engaged, and when their lived experiences guide our daily advocacy. Listening to young people is essential to building health systems that truly serve everyone.
As the lead implementing partner for CAAP in Senegal, Solange has been instrumental in elevating sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and maternal and child health (MNCH) to national advocacy priorities. She has unified civil society, government representatives, digital influencers and youth leaders to advance policy reforms through effective coordination. Under her guidance, CAAP has strengthened collaboration with the Ministry of Health, including DSME, to ensure that reforms are aligned with national strategies and grounded in community realities. Her contributions include co-developing the evaluation of Senegal’s RMNCH 2016–2020 plan and shaping the new 2024–2028 strategy, supporting PHC revitalization efforts, strengthening youth leadership through the Power to Youth initiative and enabling technical committees that reduce duplication and improve accountability across stakeholders. By mobilizing digital creators and media outlets, Solange is also contributing to modernize institutional health communication, helping the public better understand UHC priorities such as family planning, reproductive health, workforce development and access to essential health services. These activities and achievements position Solange as an influential advocate for system-level change and UHC progress in Senegal.
Solange’s work is deeply informed by the lived experiences of Senegalese youth and women who navigate deeply entrenched barriers spanning financial, social, cultural and logistical factors, to access SRHR services. She has consistently highlighted that young people, especially adolescent girls, often lack youth-friendly services, face stigma and are affected by harmful practices such as early and forced marriage and FGM. Their experiences reveal how gaps in data and community-level funding in tandem with service availability perpetuate inequities and hinder their right to health, education and participation in national decision-making. Through the CAAP initiative, Solange engages local officials, religious and traditional leaders, health workers and youth representatives to document these realities and translate them into targeted advocacy. Media campaigns, co-created with influencers and MoH experts, bring these stories into national dialogue showing how distance, cost and lack of information affect daily lives.
