By Foday Moriba Conteh
With the aim of bringing together women leaders and other stakeholders to deliberate on the existing policies and laws that seek to address inequality and discrimination against women and girls in the country, Fifty-Fifty Group Sierra Leone, in partnership with Social Enterprise Development (SEND), will today Friday 3rd February 2023 conclude a two day National Women’s Conference on the theme: “Beyond Broken Promises: Making 2023 the Year of Accountability for Women in Sierra Leone.”
The two days conference was held at Fifty-Fifty Group headquarters on Tower Hill in Freetown.
In her address, the Past President of Fifty-Fifty Group Sierra Leone, Haja Mariama Fofanah, stated that the conference seeks to discuss the limitations and barriers to women’s increased participation especially at the political decision-making levels.
She added that Sierra Leone is a signatory to a number of conventions and international treaties that are geared towards the elimination of discrimination against women and guarantee the rights and protection of women. In that regard, the various sessions, according to her, will discuss and proffer recommendations on how laws and policies can be adequately translated and implemented to deliver tangible outcomes for women.
She disclosed that during the two days conference presenters and those who will be discussing(both male and female) drawn from diverse fields will present a contextual analysis of the various topics such as the status of the recommendations of the constitutional review process and the advantages and disadvantages of the Proportional Representation System for women, amongst others.
“Participants from across the country will enrich the discussion and contribute to the development of a national action plan, which at the end of the two-day deliberations will be handed over to the political parties for their review and commitment to the full implementation of the plan,” she further revealed.
Haja Mariama Fofanah reiterated that the rationale behind the engagement is to bring together women leaders and other stakeholders to deliberate on the existing policies and laws that seek to address inequality and discrimination against women and girls with the theme “Beyond Broken Promises: Making 2023 the Year of Accountability for Women in Sierra Leone.”
