The country that I will focus on for the remainder of this semester is Benin. Benin is a small West African nation, that is tucked between Togo and Nigeria. The official language of Benin is French, although several other indigenous languages are spoken as well. I am interested in Benin because of a previous class that I took that focused specifically on refugees in Benin, and I look forward to now looking deeper into the health system of the country instead.

Benin has a population of about 10 million people, with nearly half of its population under the age of 18. As of 2012, the country’s annual growth rate is about 2.4%, and the percentage of the population living in urban areas is around 45.6%. Families are quite large in Benin, with a fertility rate of about 5 children per woman. Life expectancy has increased from 42.4 to around 59.2 years of age in the last 50 years, which speaks to the gradual improvement of living conditions in Benin.

Dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade, Benin’s economy is considered underdeveloped. Benin’s GNI per capita (PPP) is only $1,570, and its GDP growth rate is a mere 1.1% (World Bank). As of 2011, 47.3% of the people of Benin were below the international poverty line, living on less than $1.25 a day. Child labor is also seen in Benin, with 45.6% of children aged 5 to 14 years of age involved in child labor activities (i.e. economic activities or 28+ hours of domestic work).

There are visible gendered disparities in the education of Benin’s population. Youth literacy rates (for individuals 15-24 years old) differ between males and females, with 54.9% of males and only 30.8% of females able to read and write. The stated enrolment ratios for females as a percentage of males for primary schooling is 87.5%, and it decreases to 60.2% for secondary schooling (UNESCO).

Women in Benin have a slightly longer life expectancy than their male counterparts (United Nations Population Division); however, the gendered gap seen in literacy rates continues to increase into adulthood. In terms of protection, contraceptive prevalence for women aged 15-49 years is only about 12.9%. This practice has the potential to increase the spread of disease, such as HIV/AIDs. Antenatal care for pregnant women in Benin could additionally use improvement, with only 60.5% of mothers having at least four visits with health personnel (World Health Organization). Another interesting fact that I found upon research was that 12.9% of women had experienced female genital mutilation/cutting, and that 2.2% of women had a daughter that had been mutilated/cut.

I am interested to learn more about the heath system in Benin, specifically in relation to pre- and postnatal care. Throughout the course of this semester, I hope to better understand women’s access to medical resources around the time of their pregnancy, and to learn more about prevalent health risks these mothers and their children face (such as low birth weight).