The United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) calls on all international and national stakeholders to gather more resources towards programmes targeting gender equality and women’s empowerment projects in Sierra Leone.
This call is being made whilst UNIONSIL will be supporting the commemoration of the International Women’s day (IWD).
The theme for IWD 2008 is: “investing in women and girls”, which sends a clear message to member states to honour their commitments towards gender equality and women’s empowerment.
UNIOSIL points out that this year’s international theme is based on the alarming level of under-expenditure on women’s empowerment programmes.
They state that more investment in women and girls has a multiplier effect on the productivity, efficacy, and sustained economic growth.
UNIOSIL states that the International Women’s Day Celebration Steering Committee has applied a national theme which translates Sierra Leonean women and girls demands, namely “shaping progress-implementing Imperative Truth and Reconciliation recommendations on women and the Gender Acts”.
UNIOSIL says this theme underscores the priority which the Sierra Leonean women accord to their political, social, economic and financial empowerment.