The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs has commenced a two-days “Gender Analysis Training for Local Councils” in the Bo City Hall.
The Workshop which started on September 9, 2009 includes 23 female Councilors and 7 other Development and Measurement and Evaluation officers from the 6 Local Councils in the Southern Province.
During the training, the women will be taught about gender dimensions in the Local Councils development agenda and also the practical application of gender analysis in the Local Councils development initiatives.
The training which was organized alongside the UNFPA aims at achieving positive change for women and also concerns the underlying cause of inequality.
Giving an overview of the training, Mrs. Isatu Kajue of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) stated that her organization is always dedicated to engaging “Local Councils on practical application of key gender analysis tools in developmental agenda initiatives.”
She said that the training was timely and that it was deliberate that the training has to target mainly women so that they the women should start working together on this issue.
Her organization she explained is not only active in promoting gender issues but also “intends to go beyond gender and women’s assistance” continuing to say that her organization wishes to assist the most vulnerable in Sierra Leone as her organization “is concerned about their individual development.”
She further highlighted that her organizations is there “to ensure that issues of advancement of rights, emancipation of the excluded and most marginalized is realized.”
Dr Wusu Sannoh, Mayor Bo City Council and Chairperson of the occasion explained his personal experience on the issue of gender in Sierra Leone.
He started by highlighting that the Bo District Council has got far more representation of women than the City Council. In his own sense he attributed this to the number of women in the rural areas, which out numbers their counterparts in the city. But he said there is something stunning about this large number of women in the villages. The “women in the villages are the most vulnerable” when it comes to the issue of gender in Sierra Leone, he expounded. These women he says go through too much rigours than their counterparts in the cities. And if this training has to be of any success, he said then the few women present have to deliberate on the issues affecting rural women.
These women he explained go through a lot of difficulties. Meaning, if there has to be any progress in the issue of women emancipation, then that stride has to be taken in the direction of solving the problems women in the villages go through.
“Women’s emancipation will be achieved if only they (rural women) do not have to go through these great difficulties they go through now.” With this being the first step in any fight towards this issue, he clarified that a milestone would have been taken.
The Mayor who made his entrance into politics in 2004 therefore implored the female councilors to carefully deliberate on this issue.
He stated to them: “Think, say how can we help those who cannot be with us?”
He went on to say that the issue of rural women is a very big “challenge.”
“There is a big challenge in the rural areas where women work from dusk to dawn.”
Speaking, the Bo District Council Chairman Emmanuel Margao related that the issue of gender and its balancing has been a big challenge since creation, where the Almighty had to create a woman from the rib of the man. But the issue of saying this should be the role for women and that should be the role of men, he said was a stereotype, and that the women should work towards changing that stereotyping. He therefore implored all the female councilor trainees to face the challenge of “what do we do in such a situation.”
The present century he said was one of confronting the challenge of women emancipation. The emancipation of women he however affirmed was no-easy-one. And this emancipation he explicated could only come if the women are self-empowered in many ways amongst which he said was Education and that it was the key main pillar.
Delivering her keynote address, the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs Jenneh Kandeh stated that the concept of gender is even a conflict-rousing concept. And this concept he further maintained “is inextricably linked to development.” For a country to be developed she explained that the issue of women has to be taken seriously in all of the nation’s developmental plans. It was against this background that she made mention of the Millennium Development Goals.
“It is evident that if the Millennium Development Goals are solutions to address the status and confront the challenges of building inclusive societies where the rights of all persons are protected and where they all participate in the decision making processes that affect their lives, then gender analysis training could be a pathway to gender equality.”
It was in light of the above assertion that she went on to say that the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs will always be there to “support efforts to mainstream gender and to equally respond to women and men’s needs at all stages of the development process.’
In continuation, she highlighted that her Ministry has drawn inspiration from regional and international protocols “to bring about the desired change in attitude and behaviour that could strengthen the vision, capacity and processes needed to bring about gender responsive developmental programmes and projects.”
Making the vote of thanks, Councilor Marie McCarthy proclaimed that with this type of training “our dreams have come true.” She therefore appealed to her colleague female councilors to make use of the opportunity they were accorded. “Women, now is the time for us to act” she wrapped up.
By Bawoh Joseph Jenkins
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