On the African continent, maternal mortality after caesarean section remains very high: almost one woman in 200 dies as a result of this operation. That's 50 times more than in Western countries! To combat this problem, Louvain Coopération has produced the manual ‘Pratique de la césarienne en conditions de ressources limitées’ (‘Caesarean section practice in conditions of limited resources’). It's a very practical book, the result of collaboration between academics and experts in the field. Our aim is to distribute it as widely as possible.

In an interview with Devlop' a year ago, our Rector, Vincent Blondel, expressed his desire “for Louvain Coopération and UCLouvain to strengthen each other as much as possible”. This strengthening is achieved through the many collaborations that are taking shape between our sister organisations, and we thought it would be interesting to report on them.

The university dimension of our NGO considerably influences the way we work, the way we design our projects and, more generally, the missions we carry out. Among these, the dissemination of knowledge occupies a very special place. In concrete terms, this means sharing as widely as possible the knowledge that we generate through our projects and the interactions that we encourage between players in the academic world and those in the field, so that it benefits as many people as possible. It's a vital mission, and we want to raise its profile and increase its impact.

Agro-ecology, along with health, is one of the pillars of Louvain Coopération's activities in Cambodia. Funded by the DGD, the programme set up with the Liège-based university NGO Eclosio, aims to strengthen food and economic security and access to trade and entrepreneurship. All this while promoting sustainable and social agriculture.

In Benin, more than 23% of adults are overweight and 7.4% of them are obese. 25% of adults have high blood pressure and 96% of them do not follow any treatment. Based on these findings in 2015, Louvain Coopération has since decided to take action on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), which represent a real global scourge. In low-income countries, the cost of treating these diseases, which include cancer, diabetes, hypertension and obesity, is far too high for households. What's more, it presents too great a risk for mutual insurers, as member contributions are not high enough.

In Burundi, the development of mental health initiatives is undoubtedly one of the greatest success stories of the last five years. Starting from scratch, in a region where mental illness is often equated with witchcraft, the IZERE project launched in 2017, in partnership with BADEC Caritas Ngozi, has contributed to the definition of a national mental health policy.

So far, our NGO has continued to work with the Cambodian Ministry and our local partners, as well as communities on strengthening health systems to manage non-communicable diseases. Three interdependent levels of action.

It's not always easy to make the most of your civic experience, such as volunteering or Erasmus, particularly when you're looking for a job. Yet they can be a real asset. Global STEPS is a new tool for measuring and demonstrating the added value of this type of experience. It's a great idea that Louvain Coopération is taking part in, and one that should be disseminated widely!

Philippe De Leener is a professor at the Centre for Development Studies at UCLouvain, specialising in economics, political science and the sociology of change in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. He is also Chairman of Inter-Mondes and Co-Chairman of the social economy federation SAW-B asbl (Solidarité des alternatives wallonnes et bruxelloises). He answers Devlop's questions.

LC: How do you see the Covid-19 crisis?

The situation

On 16 March, the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Benin. Farmers' families were quickly affected by the containment measures, as it became difficult to go to the various urban markets in Cotonou to sell their produce. Supplies of certain foodstuffs were also made more difficult by the closure of borders. In the Atacora region, fonio sales have been particularly poor. Stocks are therefore high, and the arrival of the rainy season is likely to damage them. In the south of the country, cassava processing cooperatives are facing a shortage of raw materials.