By Abubakarr Bah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
One of the goodies of the Bio Presidency in Sierra Leone is the important role played by the Office of the First Lady in the developmental drive of Sierra Leone, especially towards the health and wellbeing of school going girls across the country. This would be explained in my piece later.
Unlike his predecessors that ruled the Republic of Sierra Leone since 1971, the 5th democratically elected President, His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio, has placed so much significance and influence on the Office of the First Lady of the country. The President is passionate about gender equality and he truly knows the value a strong woman like the First Lady, Her Excellency Fatima Bio, would add to the presidency and nation building. There is a generally held belief that “When good men and women work side-by-side, they form more powerful teams, and provide better results…”
When they are serious about development, visionary leaders work side-by-side with their spouses, and more importantly place them at the front or centre stage and not keep them at the back. Therefore, the placement of Madam Fatima Bio at the centre stage is in line with the Agenda of UN Women which states that “women’s equal participation and leadership in political and public life are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.”
Since he came to power in 2018, His Excellency President Bio has been working shoulder-to-shoulder with his better half nationally as well as showcasing her at the global stage, including the United Nations. Her Excellency Fatima Jabbie Maada Bio also made proper use of this opportunity to excel as the first ever sitting First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone to address the U.N. During her address, she made a strong case for a declaration to end child sexual exploitation and violence in a bid to bring hope and healing to survivors.
Through the support of her colleague First Ladies in Africa and other stakeholders, including leaders of prominent child welfare and advocacy organizations, and survivors of child sexual abuse, Madam Bio made a historical milestone at the U.N in November 2022 for a declaration of November 18 as the World Day for the Prevention of, and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence. Every patriotic Sierra Leonean irrespective of political ideology or party affiliation should be proud of our First Lady for this historic achievement.
In 2019, Her Excellency, Fatima Bio was also decorated with a warrior award at the International Women of Power Luncheon in California, USA for her bravery and outstanding contribution towards women and girls empowerment in Sierra Leone.
Back home, Her Excellency the First Lady, Fatima Maada Bio has done extremely well towards supporting the girl child; firstly against early marriage, sexual abuse and exploitation with the launch of her flagship programme, “Hands off Our Girls” campaign in December 2018. With her emphasis to end rape, Madam Bio brought together First Ladies from different countries in Africa. The “Hands off our Girl” campaign in Sierra Leone contributed greatly to the enactment of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2019.
His Excellency, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio on 2nd June 2022 joined Madam Fatima Bio on the occasion marking the commemoration of the International Day of Menstrual Hygiene, and launched the Free Sanitary Pad Distribution campaign in Sierra Leone. Since the project was launched last year, thousands of school girls across the country have benefitted and still benefitting from the free sanitary pad distribution project.
In a bid to raise mass awareness across the country, the First Lady has been touring across the 14 districts of the country to distribute free package of sanitary pads to each school girl, emphasising that “no school girl in Sierra Leone should stay home during schooling because of menstruation,” which is in line with the 2022 World Menstrual Hygiene Day. The campaign is helping to demystify the issue of menstruation and make it a normal fact of life. Before the introduction of the free sanitary pad distribution in schools, research shows that annually, school girls lose 80 days from school due to menstrual periods as opposed to their male counterparts.
Madam Bio’s free Sanitary pad distribution is helping to end the stigma on menstruation, enabling the girls to stay in school, and making the girls to feel inspired that with education anyone of them could attain any height they desire to achieve. For instance, some school girls in the Saint Andrews Secondary School in Bo in an interview with a colleague, Mahawa Allieu, lauded praises on Madam Bio for the free sanitary pad distribution which they said has made them to stay in school.
They also described the First Lady as a real mother of the nation, making particular reference to her humility. Recently in Kono, a total number of 7,000 school girls benefited from the free sanitary pad distribution.
A staunch member of the main opposition, All Peoples Congress (APC), Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, said during her address in Kono “I am APC but I believe in what the First Lady is doing and I will continue to support her; the pads are given to every girl irrespective of family, political affiliation or tribe.”
Many other school girls and parents across the country shared similar sentiments.
These appreciations show how the goodies of the Bio Presidency continue to make a massive difference in the education sector. It is therefore safe to say that they would want to see more of these beyond 2023 by supporting the Bios for a second term in office as the First family of the Republic of Sierra Leone until 2028.
