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Press Release
16 February 2023
The United Nations To Hold a Three Day Workshop Next Week to Shape how it will support the National Development Plan.
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Press Release
01 August 2022
A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia
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Press Release
06 July 2022
The Gambia government and UN launch new initiative to empower adolescent girls and young people.
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The Sustainable Development Goals in The Gambia
The Sustainable Development Goals are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth's environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity. These are the goals the UN is working on in The Gambia.
The Resident Coordinator leads the UN Country Team (UNCT) and ensures that the UN agencies support the national development priorities through three UNDAF outcome areas.
These are: (i) Governance, Economic Management and Human Rights supporting initiatives aimed at strengthening national institutions responsible for economic and financial management and oversee reforms to guarantee people their human rights; (ii) Human capital development supporting access to education and health care services, improving equitable quality and access to water, sanitation and hygiene, social protection and gender and youth empowerment; and (iii) Sustainable agriculture, natural resources, environment and climate change management covering agricultural production and productivity, food and nutrition security, environmental management, mainstream climate change in environment and disaster risk management.
The UN Country Team coordinate their work through joint Work Plans.
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24 November 2020
Coronavirus global outbreak
Everyone is talking about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Take part in getting your facts from reliable sources.
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Take Action
24 November 2020
Decade of Action to deliver the Global Goals
With just 10 years to go, an ambitious global effort is underway to deliver the 2030 promise—by mobilizing more governments, civil society, businesses and calling on all people to make the Global Goals their own.
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Take Action
24 November 2020
The world needs solidarity. Join #UN75
The UN is marking its 75th anniversary at a time of great disruption for the world, compounded by an unprecedented global health crisis with severe economic and social impacts. Will we emerge stronger and better equipped to work together? Or will distrust and isolation grow further?
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Story
03 February 2022
A new social contract for education to address the youth unemployment crisis in Africa
Besides being a fundamental right for each human being as enshrined in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, quality education boosts youth employment, reduces inequalities, closes the gender gap, promotes well-being, and contributes to sustainable development. Still, millions of people around the world do not have access to quality education and are facing poverty, violence, and other forms of exploitation and abuse. The COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the closures of many educational institutions and programmes exacerbated the situation.
As Africa commemorated the fourth International Day of Education on 24 January, under the theme “Changing Course, Transforming Education”, the lack of quality education in many African countries continues to contribute to the continent’s high rates of youth unemployment. This scourge is impacting the optimistic “Africa Rising” narrative and undermines progress towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
An urgent need to turn the tide by fulfilling international commitments on education
In 2012, the African Union (AU) set a goal of reducing youth and women unemployment on the continent by 2% annually between 2012 and 2022. In essence, AU member countries committed to creating 8 million new jobs annually during the next decade. This year marks the end of that decade, and little has changed on the ground.
Indeed, according to the International Labour Organization's 2019 World Employment and Social Outlook Trends report, Africa continues to have the highest rate of youth unemployment in the world. Data from the Afrobarometer Network – a partnership platform bringing together researchers surveying democracy, governance, and society – as well as UNESCO appears to similarly suggest that a significant number of young people in the region do not have the same opportunity to complete their education and/or get a decent job, particularly women and girls in rural areas.
Promoting quality education as a pillar of sustainable, just, and peaceful societies
Education provides the key for young people to enter the labor market and become financially independent while contributing to their personal well being and that of their communities as a whole. As a 2011 study of WHO global maternal and perinatal health data, for example, shows, there could be a correlation between the level of education that a woman achieves and her risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes.
Promoting education has therefore the potential to be an effective tool for catalyzing social and economic change in Africa. And several UN programmes in the continent focus on boosting access to quality education, including what UNICEF does in Mozambique on primary schools and a UNHCR initiative that supports refugees in Tanzania. Activities that provide access to quality education can also be leveraged to provide support on other issues, such as food security. That is the case for initiatives to provide healthy and nutritious meals to primary school children.
The way forward: Pathways to success
A new social contract that addresses the on-going education crisis is essential to move forward. This vision is outlined in the 2021 UNESCO report on the Futures of Education and echoed by the call of UNESCO’s Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, on the occasion of this year’s International Day of Education:
''Glaring inequalities, a damaged planet, growing polarization and the devastating impact of the pandemic present us with a generational choice: continue on an unsustainable path or radically change course. […] If we are to transform the future, if we are to change course, we must rethink education. This means forging a new social contract for education […].”
In Africa, this new social contract should focus on boosting collaboration between Government, UN teams, non-governmental organizations and other development partners to prioritise urgent investments towards providing access to high-quality education for all. Actions should target key groups, including people living in remote areas, underprivileged neighbourhoods, communities speaking indigenous languages and other vulnerable population. We should also encourage youth-led initiatives to facilitate access to learning resources, including volunteering and cost-sharing.
Addressing the education challenges hampering Africa’s development can no longer wait. The UN should continue to lead the way, with country teams in the region re-affirming our commitment to supporting Africa as the continent mobilizes a whole-of-society approach to “change course” and “transform education” to make it accessible for all. Young people must be empowered to lead the charge towards a future that is sustainable, prosperous, and equitable – a future that leaves no one behind.
Written by George Lwanda, Senior Development Coordination Officer and Team Leader, Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in The Gambia. Editorial support provided by the Development Coordination Office (DCO) team. For more information on the United Nations’ work in the Gambia, please visit Gambia.UN.org.
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02 June 2022
The advantages of Gambia’s unique marble voting system
During the parliamentary elections, I had the opportunity to appreciate the Gambian voting system, a system that is unlike any other in the world.
Rather than the paper or digital ballot systems I am used to in the West, Gambians conduct elections in a manner reminiscent of a childhood game. Voters drop small marbles into drums that represent each candidate’s party. They know their vote has been counted when they hear a chime.
The Gambian voting system is unique and has at least five distinct advantages.
Designed to make it easy for illiterate people to exercise their democratic rights, the voting system is straightforward. The simplicity makes it easy for even first-time voters to understand and participate. For example, the vividly coloured drums, each with the candidate’s picture and party logo, make it easy for even first-time voters to understand and participate.
Second, the technology is highly tamper-proof and nearly impossible to manipulate without being detected. When someone drops a marble, election officials hear a loud ring sound; no one can cast more than one vote without being discovered, even in the privacy of a polling booth. Furthermore, all the drums are tied together, making it hard to tamper with them without raising the suspicions of the alert security personnel.
Third, counting votes takes less time and is more precise. Gambians use customised trays to count votes rather than risking errors by manually counting ballots, making the process faster, easier, and more accurate. It also considerably reduces the cost of elections.
Fourth, the voting technology is inexpensive, made locally, and environmentally friendly. The marbles and drums are all handmade in The Gambia. There is no shortage of supplies, which ensures seamless election logistics. Furthermore, the marbles and drums are reused, making the process environmentally friendly because there is very little waste compared to paper ballot methods.
Lastly, the use of marbles is a Gambian custom that contributes to a sense of national pride and identity.
The benefits of The Gambia’s marble voting system extend beyond its novelty. It is an innovation that addresses issues of voter fraud and illiteracy. Furthermore, the one-of-a-kind marble voting mechanism is an example of how to make an election more democratic while still keeping the election process affordable, secure and transparent.
While there have been legitimate concerns about the voting system, with some urging for a switch to a paper ballot system, The Gambia would be wise to look for inventive ways to improve and not abolish it.
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Story
10 March 2022
UN Special Coordinator for development in the Sahel lauds The Gambia’s ability to facilitate re-imagining governance in the Sahel
The Gambia can facilitate the “re-imagining” of governance in the Sahel region, according to UN Sahel Coordinator Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, who met with government officials on 15 and 16 February 2022. Mr. Dieye was in the country to discuss the possibility of the government of The Gambia hosting a high-level regional summit on governance in the Sahel region.
Mr. Dieye lauded The Gambia’s government for its achievements in democratic governance and social cohesiveness over the last five years. The UN Under-Secretary-General emphasized the importance of these achievements because at least five Sahel countries have seen unlawful changes in administration since 2020 and invited the country to host a high-level regional forum on governance in the Sahel.
The Gambia can facilitate the “re-imagining” of governance in the Sahel region, according to UN Sahel Coordinator Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, who met with government officials on 15 and 16 February 2022. Mr. Dieye was in the country to discuss the possibility of the government of The Gambia hosting a high-level regional summit on governance in the Sahel region.
Mr. Dieye lauded The Gambia’s government for its achievements in democratic governance and social cohesiveness over the last five years. The UN Under-Secretary-General emphasized the importance of these achievements because at least five Sahel countries have seen unlawful changes in administration since 2020 and invited the country to host a high-level regional forum on governance in the Sahel.
An urgent need to create space for all to proffer solutions to harness the Sahel’s development potential
The Sahel region is one of the most fragile regions in the world. The causes of this fragility are primarily man-made. Illustrating this, people from the ten Sahel nations that took part in the UN75 global dialogues listed climate change and environmental concerns as the leading causes of fragility in the Sahel. A further 44% cited armed conflict, political instability, terrorism, or organized crime as the main threat to the region’s sustainable development.
Despite its vulnerability, the region offers enormous potential. With the proper governing mechanisms in place, the Sahel may serve as a model for the rest of the world. For this to happen, however, the first step is to create a platform for all Sahelians to explore solutions to boost regional leadership and governance.
Creating a platform to strengthen inclusive governance is also consistent with the views delivered to Mr Mar Dieye last year during a series of consultations he held with youth in the Sahel dubbed “voices from the Sahel” in 2021.
For example, Bigambia Lebon of Cameroon stated, “The problems we are facing are global, but they need local solutions….” Similarly, Hawa Traore from Mali, Momodou Manneh from The Gambia and many other youths called for the creation of space for everybody to engage
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Story
25 January 2022
SRSG for West Africa promotes prosperous, democratic Gambia
The UN in The Gambia is committed to helping the country build a prosperous, democratic, and inclusive country. That was the message from Mr. Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the United Nations official in charge of monitoring political developments and facilitating efforts to consolidate peace and democratic governance to improve the lives of people in West Africa.
On January 18, 2022, Ms. Seraphine Wakana, the UN Resident Coordinator in The Gambia, welcomed the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for West Africa and the Sahel to Africa's smiling coast. Mr. Annadif was in the country to reaffirm the United Nations commitment to peace and inter-party cooperation and attend President Adama Barrow's inauguration.
The SRSG met with several presidential hopefuls during his two-day visit. In the company of the UN Resident Coordinator in The Gambia, Mr. Annadif met with Mr. Ousainou Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party, Hon. Mama Kandeh, leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), and Hon. Halifa Sallah, Secretary General of the People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS).
Mr. Mahamat Saleh Annadif emphasized the crucial role of The Gambia's political leaders in preserving peace and stability while promoting the country's embryonic democracy.
The SRSG lauded all presidential candidates for their contributions to the country's democratic space and freedom. "While several countries in the region have had political difficulties," the SRSG said, "countries such as The Gambia and Cape Verde serve as good models of democratic consolidation."
He applauded the integrity of candidates who are unhappy with the results of the 2021 presidential election, saying that they are disputing the results in a way that promotes peace and strengthens the rule of law. “The West African region needs many more good examples of democratic consolidation”, the SRSG said.
The UN Resident Coordinator reiterated the SRSG's message, assuring political leaders of the UN commitment to advancing democracy and reforms to ensure The Gambia's peace and stability. "The UN is here to assist you in consolidating democracy and reforms by strengthening institutions that will ensure The Gambia preserves peace and stability," Ms. Seraphine Wakana added.
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Story
15 November 2021
From the Streets of Banjul to The Frontlines of COP26
Intense, world-changing temperatures, floods, and unprecedented heat waves—are driving home a sobering reality: Our planet is changing before our eyes and we are digging our own graves. If there is anything this tells us, it is the urgency to take action to save the planet for generations to come regardless of age, faith or sex.
Age is no obstacle for creating an impact, as Fatou Jeng shows. Her hometown of Banjul in The Gambia has suffered the detrimental effects of climate change. Sea level rise and coastal erosion present serious long-term challenges to Gambia's development. There is consensus that climate change could result in up to 1 m rise in the sea level which means Fatou’s home city of Banjul would experience severe floods. The Gambia is primarily low-lying and a 1 m rise in sea level could potentially inundate over 8% of the country's land area. She still dared to take immediate action to be the change she wants - choosing not just her safety but that of her entire community. A courageous but inspiring decision to dare to help create a better future.
This trailblazing youth climate activist has a lot under her belt, from founding the youth-led environmental non-government organization called Clean Earth Gambia. She serves as one of the 30 young people selected to organize the first-ever UN Youth Climate Summit in 2019. Outside of The Gambia, she is the policy operations lead for the Women and Gender United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Youth Constituency YOUNGO, where she has been a driving force for policy submissions on gender and climate change. In The Gambia, she has trained more than 500 school children about climate change and continues to spread awareness about environmental issues to local communities and youth organizations.
“Real change is driven by young people. If we want something done, we cannot leave it to the older generation and this is why I am at the forefront of trying to save our planet,” Fatou said. This year, she was recognized as one of the Top 100 Young African Conservation Leaders by the African Alliance of YMCAs, the African Wildlife Fund and a collection of many more international non-profit organizations.
As the founder of Clean Earth Gambia, she explains that the goal of the organization is to create awareness about issues concerning the environment, most importantly climate change, and teach and train more than 500 school children about climate change as well as environmental issues to local communities. Fatou is attending COP26 in Scotland as part of the young people worldwide who have gathered to hold their leaders accountable and demand action today. “I expect climate justice to be at the heart of COP26 with loss and damage and climate financing not only put on paper but effectively implemented because we have no time. We are facing a climate emergency,” an energized and excited Fatou said.
In September this year, The Gambia submitted their updated national climate plan, officially known as Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, showing a strong commitment to protecting this biodiversity and building resilience to future climate shocks while also decreasing overall greenhouse gas emissions. The UN has been supporting the government to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The UN continues to support capacity building efforts, and the provision of agricultural inputs and market opportunities for farmers and communities. Through nation-wide intervention, gender responsive Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training was provided to 14,670 farmers through the establishment of 489 farmer field schools, exceeding the annual UNDAF target of 10,000 farmers.
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25 October 2021
On the United Nations’ 76th anniversary – Why we must be hopeful for the future - by Seraphine Wakana, UN Resident Coordinator
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, The Gambia, like most countries, was already grappling with enormous challenges – climate change, youth unemployment, irregular migration and increasing inequalities. Now, the effects of the pandemic are threatening to further unravel decades of progress to build a more inclusive and equal society for everyone. But we have come too far to slow down. Our strength and hope for the future lies in our shared vision for a more prosperous nation.
While the pandemic has upended lives and shattered economies, it has also revealed the power of unity and solidarity in development. When we all mobilized and came together to fight COVID-19, we protected thousands, including our most loved ones, from the virus and averted a potentially worse disaster. Through multilateral cooperation, a hallmark of the United Nations, we are now starting to build back better.
This week, the world is celebrating the 76th anniversary of the United Nations. For 76 years, the United Nations has been working with governments across the world to prevent conflict, restore hope and dignity for the deprived and build a better world for everyone. Our mission in The Gambia is no different – we work with the government, civil society, private sector, local communities, children, young people and women to support the country’s development aspirations and protect human rights.
Fundamentally, at the heart of the work of the United Nations in The Gambia are the rights, welfare and development of young people and women, two groups that represent beacons of hope. Their energy and determination to overcome the numerous challenges they face daily and usher in a new era of hope and prosperity for everyone are the reasons we must remain hopeful for the future.
We will work with young people and women to bridge the inclusion and gender gaps and provide more opportunities for growth and development. Young people and women must have access to quality education, training, skills building and services to innovate and, in so doing, help them build lives protected from violence, abuse and exploitation.
Building back better requires sustained efforts to tackle the pandemic, and our best chance is vaccination. Thus, the United Nations is leading unprecedented global and multilateral efforts to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the world. Despite being the smallest country on mainland Africa, The Gambia was among the first five countries on the continent to receive the COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX facility – a coalition of UN and other agencies working to make vaccines available to all. As a result, more than 12 per cent of the total eligible population in The Gambia has been fully vaccinated, but the road ahead is still long.
With the arrival of more vaccines, we must encourage everyone to get vaccinated. We must step up national efforts to make vaccines available to those willing to take the jab and encourage the unvaccinated to consider taking the vaccine. We must remind everyone that the virus is still with us, cases may still rise and more disruptions to education and economic activities will further stall the country’s recovery efforts. We can minimize these aftershocks and help protect more people from COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations when we all get vaccinated.
As with the national effort to curtail the pandemic, the United Nations has always supported The Gambia through numerous other challenges to its social and economic development. We have always been there to help build a society for every single Gambian, irrespective of faith, gender or economic standing – a society where every child can go to school, where every girl and woman is protected from violence, where the environment is protected, where the economy is strong and inclusive, where jobs are available for all and where migrants, refugees and other vulnerable groups are also protected. In short, no one should be left behind.
As The Gambia heads to the polls to vote in the presidential elections in December, the United Nations encourages all actors, including political parties and their leaders, to promote peace during and after the vote. This is a commitment we must all make and hold ourselves accountable to.
Happy UN Day!
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Press Release
16 February 2023
The United Nations To Hold a Three Day Workshop Next Week to Shape how it will support the National Development Plan.
The United Nations in The Gambia is inviting community leaders, influencers, and decision-makers from NGOs, civil society organisations, the private sector, the government, the Universities, research centres and other development partners to a three-day workshop to discuss how the UN can best support the government’s new national development plan.
The workshop will take place from 21 to 23 February 2023 at the Sir Dawda Jawara International Conference Centre at 9am
The workshop’s goal is to ensure that the UN’s support for The Gambia’s development priorities is relevant, effective, and adaptable to changing needs. The workshop will shape the UN strategy to support The Gambia’s National Development Plan, also known as the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). It’s a multi-year plan that outlines the UN’s support for a country’s development priorities and is aligned with The Gambia’s National Development Plan and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The United Nations in The Gambia is excited to collaborate with community leaders, influencers, and decision-makers to build a more sustainable and prosperous future for The Gambia.
If you want to learn more about the workshop and what to expect, please contact abdoulie.badjie@un.org or richard.gomez@un.org or register on CF Visioning Exercise Registration.
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Press Release
09 August 2022
A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia
Office of the Resident Coordinator SUMMARY REPORT1 A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 28 June 2022 Tamala Hotel 1. Context The Gambia is taking giant strides in its transition from an authoritarian regime towards a system of governance characterised by peaceful and credible elections, a vibrant media landscape, meaningful separation of powers, accountability for crimes of the past, and a commitment to national reconciliation and healing. But there is one area where The Gambia is standing still or even regressing — the proportion of women occupying elected office in the country.
Women make up more than half of The Gambia’s population and a full 57 percent of its registered electorate. And yet, in the April 2022 legislative elections, only 8 percent of candidates were women. Only 3 of the 19 women who stood were elected and only one of those represented a political party, the other 2 being independent candidates. This is the same number of women who were elected in the legislative elections of 2017, indicating a certain stagnation when it comes to women’s political empowerment in the country. The problem exists not only at the level of the National Assembly but at all echelons of elected office in The Gambia. In fact, the farther down one looks in the political hierarchy, the smaller is the proportion of women who hold office. Only 3 of the 22 Ministers (13.6 percent) in the current Cabinet are women, down from 21 precent in the previous Cabinet. Only 5 women sit in the current 58-seat National Assembly (8.6 percent), down from 10.3 percent in the previous National Assembly. And only 7 percent of Local Counsellors in The Gambia are women, a figure that many are hoping will increase after the May 2023 local elections.
The trajectory of The Gambia’s long-term political and socio-economic development and its ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 will be impacted by the extent to which the entire population is empowered to contribute its ideas and 1 Report compiled by Patrick Mc Carthy, UN Peace & Development Advisor (mccarthy@un.org). A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 2 talents to this end. Women have a full and equal role to play in this regard, as underlined by SDG 5 on gender equality, which includes a specific target to “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life” (SDG 5, Target 5.5). It was in this context that the Minister of Gender, Children & Social Welfare, Hon. Fatou Kinteh, and the UN Resident Coordinator in The Gambia, Mrs. Seraphine Wakana, led a high-level conversation on the political empowerment of women in The Gambia on 28 June 2022 at Tamala Hotel.
The conversation, which was moderated by Mr. Peter Gomez, the Managing Director of West Coast Radio, comprised three panels addressing the following questions: • What existing policies, strategies and best practices at national and regional levels are fostering women’s leadership & political empowerment? What are the remaining policy gaps and how can we address them? • What are the main impediments preventing women from being elected to political office in The Gambia? • What could be done to increase the number of women holding political office in the country at national and local levels? 2. What existing policies, strategies and best practices at national and regional levels are fostering women’s leadership & political empowerment? What are the remaining policy gaps and how can we address them?
This panel discussion began with presentations by the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Hon. Fatou Kinteh, and the ECOWAS Political Advisor in The Gambia, Mr. Claude Condor. At the national level, Minister Kinteh outlined a raft of policies, strategies and laws aimed at promoting not only the political empowerment of women but also their economic and social empowerment. These include the Ministry’s Strategic and Investment Plan (2021- 2025), the government’s Gender and Women Empowerment Policy (2021-2030), the National Strategy and Policy on FGM/C (2021-2030), the National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security (2021-2025), and the Women Enterprise Fund Act (2020). The Minister stressed, however, that while such policies, strategies and laws were testament to the government’s commitment to promoting the role of women in the A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 3 economy, society and politics, there was still a large gap between what has been committed to on paper and what happens in practice.
The Minister called for redoubled and sustained efforts by government and civil society, with support from the international community, to ensure the timely implementation of existing policies to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. Mr. Condor of ECOWAS noted that gender inequality remains a major barrier to human capital development and economic growth in West Africa and that addressing it would contribute to surmounting barriers to sustainable peace, security, stability and development in the ECOWAS region. He said it was time to move “from rhetoric to reality” in uncovering and redressing the entrenched systemic and systematic discrimination and marginalization of women in democratic governance processes and decision-making in the region. Since its formation in 1975, ECOWAS has made considerable efforts in promoting women’s participation in governance and decision-making processes both at the national and regional levels and has developed legal frameworks that recognise the significance of the role of women in governance, electoral processes, conflict prevention and resolution, and peacebuilding.
These frameworks include: • The ECOWAS Revised Treaty (1993), Article 4(g) on the recognition, promotion and protection of human and peoples' rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. • The ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001), Section VIII on Women, Children and Youth, especially Article 40, which recognises that “the development and promotion of the welfare of women are essential factors for development, progress, and peace in the society” and undertakes “to eliminate all forms of discrimination and harmful and degrading practices against women.” • The ECOWAS Gender Development Centre, which is a multi-purpose regional agency promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the ECOWAS region. It works with Member States towards the effective implementation of the ECOWAS Gender Policy with the aim of “transforming West Africa into a fair and safe community in which men and women have equal opportunities to participate, decide, control and take advantage of all development initiatives.” • The ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (2008), one of whose 14 components focuses on “Women, Peace and Security,” aims at facilitating implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325; relevant provisions of the 1993 ECOWAS Revised Treaty, in particular Article 63; and the provisions dedicated to Women and A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 4 Youths in Articles 40, 42 and 43 of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. •
The ECOWAS Gender and Elections Strategic Framework (2015), which is designed to enhance women’s political participation and representation in line with the Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security (1999), the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and other relevant international conventions and treaties. • The ECOWAS Parliament Supplementary Act on Equality of Rights between Women and Men for Sustainable Development in the ECOWAS Region (2015), which is a legal instrument that commits all ECOWAS Member states to promote gender equality and equity in all sectors through appropriate policy and legislative formulation and reviews, as well as strategy alignment. • The ECOWAS Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) Guidelines on Women, Peace and Security (2020), which provides guidance on the empowerment of women to control over their own livesthrough awarenessraising, building self-confidence, expansion of choices, and increased access to and control over resources, as well as actions to transform the structures and institutions that reinforce and perpetuate gender discrimination and inequality.
• The ECOWAS Parliament Regional Strategy to End all Forms of Suppression Against Women (2021), which recommends, inter alia, that the ECOWAS Parliament should (1) develop a regional affirmative action bill or a regional common approach on gender parity that is fair and balanced and (2) ensure that there is at least one woman from every Member State in the Bureau of its Standing Committees in order to ensure that women take part in decision-making processes. • The ECOWAS Vision 2050, which has the inclusion and empowerment of women and youth at its core. During the discussion that followed the presentations by Minister Kinteh and Mr. Condor, many participants underlined that the policies, strategies and best practices that exist at national and regional levels should be largely sufficient to make significant progress on women’s political empowerment in The Gambia but that a lot more needed to be done to move from equality on paper to equality in practice. The former Vice President of The Gambia, Hon. Isatou Touray, went as far as to say that, with the raft of national and regional policies and strategies that the country has developed or signed up to, The Gambia had achieved “formal gender equality” but that the situation on the ground looked a lot different.
The conversation then naturally turned A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 5 to why this was the case and what was stopping women in the Gambia from taking full advantage of the national and regional policies and strategies that aim to empower them to become more active in political life. 3. What are the main impediments preventing women from being elected to political office in The Gambia? This panel discussion began with opening reflections from two of the five women currently serving in the National Assembly — Hon. Fatou Cham and Hon. Amie Colley — and one woman who served in the Previous National Assembly, Hon. Ndey Yassin Secka, all of whom outlined the challenges they faced, and continue to face, as female politicians in The Gambia. During this panel discussion, the following main impediments were identified:
• Existing gender roles disadvantage women: Participants stressed the importance of re-examining and re-shaping the gender roles that Gambians themselves have created that impede women from presenting themselves for political office and that this process must begin in the home and in school. From a very early age, girls are told that boys are leaders, and this narrative and belief system continues into adulthood. Institutions and communities also reinforce this message. Participants stressed that it is time to change these narratives and to encourage girls to become leaders in order to dislodge these gender stereotypes.
• Women are more engaged in politics that men, but mainly in supporting roles: Participants pointed out that women represent a full 57 percent of the registered electorate in The Gambia and so are more engaged in politics than men. But they play mostly supporting roles, e.g., as voters and party organisers and mobilisers. Often, when a woman and a man want to run for the same political party, the woman is asked to step aside to make room for the man. Many participants pointed out that this needs to change since women are now ready, willing and able to take on more leadership roles.
• There is no quota system enshrined in law: Participants pointed to the results achieved in other countries in West Africa and farther afield that had introduced laws requiring a minimum proportion of women to be represented in elected offices and lamented the fact that such laws did not yet exist in The Gambia, despite their inclusion in the draft Constitution and despite recent attempts to pass a Gender Bill in the National Assembly. One participant pointed out that is such a quota system were enshrined in Gambian law, a political party that A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 6 presented too few female candidates would be rejected and the lesson would be learned that the time for excluding women has passed.
• Fear prevents women from running for office: Fear prevents women from running for elected office in The Gambia — fear of acceptance by their husbands, their husbands’ family, and their own family, all of whom must be asked permission before running for office. Women also fear the opposition they will face from men and women in their communities with traditional views about gender roles, as well as men and women within their own parties who do not wish them to succeed if it means they themselves cannot. The opposition faced by women running for office takes many forms, but two widely cited examples are character assassination and cyber bullying, often of a sexual nature. Faced with such virulent opposition that can have a serious negative affect on their personal lives and self-esteem, many women — including those who are well qualified and equipped to represent their communities — choose not to run for or accept public office.
• Elections are expensive: The high cost of running for public office in The Gambia deters women from presenting themselves as candidates.2 Political parties in The Gambia do not receive any support from the State. Candidates running for election also receive relatively little financial support from their respective parties and are expected to finance much of their campaigns using their own funds or financial support from family and friends. Independent candidates have no party structures at all to fall back on. The absence of campaign financing laws, coupled with the prevalence of vote-buying (direct and indirect), means that candidates must spend large amounts of their own money to have any chance of being elected. Since women in The Gambia tend to be relatively financially disadvantaged compared to men, most female aspiring candidates are not able to raise the capital required to run a successful campaign. Participants pointed out that the economic empowerment of women is key to their political empowerment.
• The right women are not always chosen to run: The few women who political parties do choose to run for office are often not the most active women in their communities, which decreases their chances of being elected. Participants stressed the importance of empowering the most active women in their communities to present themselves as candidates in order to increase the proportion of female candidates who are elected. Asking women to vote for women just because they are women is not the solution. Women, like men, will 2 The Cost of Parliamentary Politics in The Gambia. Westminster Foundation for Democracy. October 2020 - www.wfd.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/Cost-of-Parliamentary-Politics-in-The-Gambia221020.pdf A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 7 vote for the person they think will best represent them and their community. The solution is empowering women to do just that.
• There are not enough role models: While The Gambia does have a small number of exceptional female politician role models — including the former Vice President, current and former female members of Cabinet and the National Assembly, and female Mayors Local Counsellors — their relative scarcity limits the inspiration that young women receive to consider following in their footsteps. Nevertheless, participants stressed that the mentorship role that established female politicians play towards such aspiring young women is incredibly important in encouraging and equipping young women to run for public office. 4. What could be done to increase the number of women holding political office in the country at national and local levels? This panel discussion began with opening statements by the Co-Chair of the Inter-Party Committee (IPC), Hon. Halifa Sallah, the Co-Chair of the IPC Women’s Branch, Ms. Fatou Sallah Jobe, the Co-Chair of the IPC Youth Branch, Mr. Bakary Ceesay, and the President of the CSO Gender Platform, Ms. Tobaski Njie Sarr. The following recommendations emerged from the discussion. • Men and women must come together to change the landscape of women's participation in politics in The Gambia. More than 50 percent of the population cannot continue to be reflected by less than 14 percent of Cabinet, less than 9 percent of the National Assembly only 7 percent of Local Councillors.
• The Inter-Party Committee has a crucial role to play in encouraging change: The IPC is an invaluable platform for promoting constructive and cordial political dialogue between all 18 of The Gambia’s officially registered political parties, especially during electoral periods. It demonstrated its effectiveness in helping to ensure a peaceful and credible presidential election in December 2021, especially by addressing the issue of hate speech. It has also demonstrated its commitment to promoting women’s participation and leadership in politics by creating dedicated branches for women and youth. The IPC is also working on developing a Political Party Inclusion Policy that seeks to promote internal party reforms to ensure the strengthened representation of women, young people, and persons with disabilities.
• But real change can only come from the political parties themselves: The InterParty Committee can only go so far, however. Real positive change to women’s participation in politics in The Gambia will only come when political parties begin A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 8 to change their behaviour, e.g., by appointing more women to senior leadership roles within the parties, by ensuring that the party committees that select candidates are gender balanced, by selecting more, qualified and viable, female candidates to run for election, and by putting the full support of the party behind each woman’s candidacy. 5. Proposed next steps The conversation drew to a close with the Minister for Gender, Children & Social Welfare and UN Resident Coordinator presenting ideas on next steps that could be taken to advance the political empowerment of women in The Gambia. The following actions suggest themselves based on the sum of the discussions that took place.
1. Conduct a national survey on the reasons for the low representation of women in political decision making and use the findings to develop and implement a comprehensive advocacy / sensitisation programme designed to increase female representation in politics at all levels.
2. Build the capacity of female members of the National Assembly and Area Councils (e.g., through training and study tours) in order to provide them with the skills they need to act as mentors to and role models for aspiring female politicians.
3. Since the empowerment of women should begin when they are girls, the primary and secondary school curricula and teacher training materials should be reviewed and updated to ensure that the message is clearly conveyed to children — both girls and boys — throughout their education that girls, just like boys, can be leaders too. This would help to counteract, in the medium- to long-term, interpretations of gender roles that undervalue women’s leadership potential.
4. Introduce a legal quota of women’s representation in elected office. Whether this is achieved through a new Constitution or a stand-alone Act of the National Assembly, such affirmative action would ensure that a certain percentage of women would be represented in public office and would increase the number of role models for young women and girls to emulate, thus creating a virtuous cycle.
5. Pending the introduction of a quota system, all political parties should formally adopt the inclusion policy developed by the Inter-Party Committee through which they commit themselves to a minimum level of participation by women, youth and persons with disabilities in senior party leadership roles and among the candidates they present for election. A Conversation on the Political Empowerment of Women in The Gambia 9
6. A strategy should be developed to detect and address character assassination, cyber bullying and other malicious speech directed against any candidate for elected office, be they female or male. The measures included in such a strategy should be applied equally to protect and provide redress to male and female injured parties. Further research should also be carried out to identify the full range of impediments that prevent women from running for elected office.
7. Pass a campaign financing law and stop vote buying. Both of these measures would help to regulate and reduce the cost of running for elected office in The Gambia and would contribute to levelling the playing field for male and female candidates for political office.
8. Encourage and empower female local community activists to consider running for office. In order to maximise the chances that women who run for office have a good chance of being elected, it is important to encourage the right women to run, i.e., those women who are already actively engaged and well known in their communities. Such women should be provided with mentorship and encouragement from established female politicians, as well as practical skills training on developing a political platform, public speaking, campaign financing, etc. Annexes 1.
List of participants 2. Programme Office of the Resident Coordinator PARTICIPANTS Conversation on Women’s Leadership and Political Empowerment 28 June 2022 Tamala Hotel ORGANISATION NAME FUNCTIONAL TITLE 1. Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Welfare 1. Hon. Ms. Fatou Kinteh Minister 2. Ms. Ndey Marie Njie Permanent Secretary 3. Ms. Mariyann G. Jabang Director, Directorate of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment 2. National Assembly 4. Hon. Ms. Fatou Cham National Assembly Member 5. Hon. Ms. Amie Colley National Assembly Member 6. Hon. Ms. Ndey Yassin Secka Former National Assembly Member 3. Inter-Party Committee (IPC) 7. Hon. Mr. Musa Amul Nyassi Co-Chair 8. Hon. Mr. Halifa A. Sallah Co-Chair 9. Mr. Ba S. Jabbi Acting Secretary 10. Ms. Faatu Sallah-Jobe Co-Chair, Women’s Branch 11. Ms. Fatou Jallow Co-Chair, Women’s Branch 12. Mr. Bakary Ceesay Co-Chair, Youth Branch 13. Mr. Yankuba Sanneh Co-Chair, Youth Branch 4. Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP) 14. Hon. Dr. (Ms.) Isatou Touray Executive Director (and former Vice President of The Gambia) 5. Gender Platform 15. Ms. Tobaski Njie Sarr President 6. West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) 16. Ms. Salama Njie National Coordinator 7. ECOWAS 17. Mr. Claude Kondor Political Advisor 8. Embassy of Nigeria 18. Ms. Temidayo Balogun Second Secretary 19. Mr. Oluwutosin Adebayo Second Secretary 9. Embassy of Senegal 20. H.E Mr. Bassirou Sene Ambassador 10. Embassy of Sierra Leone 21. H. E. Ms. Lucretia M. Shereef High Commissioner 11. Embassy of the USA 22. Ms. Susan Solomon Public Affairs Officer Conversation on Women’s Leadership and Political Empowerment ORGANISATION NAME FUNCTIONAL TITLE 12. UN Resident Coordinator’s Office 23. Ms. Seraphine Wakana UN Resident Coordinator 24. Mr. Patrick McCarthy Peace & Development Advisor 25. Mr. Abdoulie Badjie Communication & Advocacy Officer 26. Ms. Ndella Faye Colley Head of PBF Secretariat 27. Mr. Mamadou Salieu Bah M&E Officer, PBF Secretariat 13. UNDP 28. Ms. Aissata De Resident Representative 29. Mr. Thomas Kimaru Governance Officer 14. UNFPA 30. Ms. Joy Micheal Gender Specialist 31. Ms. Fatima Sonko PBF Programme Manager Office of the Resident Coordinator AGENDA Conversation on Women’s Leadership and Political Empowerment 28 June 2022 Tamala Hotel 08:00 Buffet Breakfast A buffet breakfast will be available in the Tamala breakfast room any time from 8am. Participants are requested to come early enough to have breakfast before the commencement of discussions promptly at 9am in the Kalimba Hall. 09:00 WELCOME REMARKS Ms. Seraphine Wakana, UN Resident Coordinator 09:10 ROUND OF INTRODUCTIONS 09:30 PANEL DISCUSSION 1 What existing policies, strategies and best practices at national and regional levels are fostering women’s leadership & political empowerment? What are the remaining policy gaps and how can we address them? Moderator: Mr. Peter Gomez Panellists: Ø Honorable Fatou Kinteh, Minister of Gender, Children & Social Welfare Ø Mr. Claude Condor, Political Advisor, ECOWAS 10:00 Open discussion 11:00 Refreshments 11:30 PANEL DISCUSSION 2 What are the main impediments preventing women from being elected to political office in The Gambia? Moderator: Mr. Peter Gomez Panellists: Ø Hon. Fatou Cham, National Assembly Member Ø Hon. Amie Colley, National Assembly Member Ø Hon. Ya Kumba Jaiteh, Former National Assembly Member 12:30 Open Discussion 13:00 Lunch 14:30 PANEL DISCUSSION 3 What could be done to increase the number of women holding political office in the country at national and local levels? Moderator: Mr. Peter Gomez Panellists: Ø Inter-Party Committee (IPC) Co-Chair Ø Women’s Branch of the IPC Co-Chair Ø Youth Branch of the IPC Co-Chair Ø The Gender Platform 15:15 Open discussion 16:00 Refreshments 16:30 PROPOSED NEXT STEPS AND CONCLUDING REMARKS Ø Ms. Seraphine Wakana, UN Resident Coordinator Ø Honorable Fatou Kinteh, Minister of Gender, Children & Social Welfare 17:00 Cocktail Reception and interaction with the media
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Press Release
07 July 2022
The Gambia government and UN launch new initiative to empower adolescent girls and young people.
Banjul, 06 July 2022 -
The government and the United Nations in The Gambia are launching a new initiative that responds to high HIV rates among adolescent girls and young women. Education Plus Initiative will be launched by the First Lady of The Gambia, H.E Fatoumata Bah Barrow, at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center on July 07, 2022. Education Plus is a five-year high-level drive to accelerate action and investments to expand access to quality secondary education for all girls and boys and advance adolescent girls’ and young women’s health, education, and rights in The Gambia.
Completing secondary education, an urgent concern in the COVID-19 context, is a right in and of itself. Evidence shows it significantly contributes to reducing HIV among adolescent girls and young women—with drops in new cases of HIV by as much as one-third to one-half in some countries. Besides reducing vulnerability to acquiring HIV, girls, their communities, and countries reap multiple social and economic benefits from their completion of secondary school through the reduced likelihood of child marriage and teenage mothers, increased prospects for securing jobs and higher income and boosting national GDP, among others.
The Education Plus Initiative leverages the education system as an entry point to provide a holistic “plus” package of essential elements that adolescent girls and young women need as they become adults. These include comprehensive health education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV prevention, freedom from sexual and gender-based violence, economic security, and empowerment through school-to-work transitions. Although The Gambia has made great strides towards gender equality and HIV prevention, many barriers persist.
In The Gambia, only 48% of adolescent girls complete lower secondary education, while only 30% complete upper secondary education (UIS, 2020). In 2020, more than half (55%) of the estimated 27 000 people living with HIV in The Gambia were females aged 15 years and above. Among young people aged 15-24, three out of four new HIV infections were in females. Comprehensive knowledge about HIV and AIDS prevention remains low among young people. It is estimated that 75% of adolescent girls and young women and 68% of adolescent boys and young men aged 15–24 years do not have knowledge of HIV prevention. While women and girls are biologically more susceptible to HIV than men and boys, unequal gender power dynamics and harmful gender norms are the root cause, compounded by intersecting forms of discrimination.
Child marriage prevents many adolescent girls from pursuing education and exposes them to gendered inequalities and violence. A quarter (23%) of young women aged 20-24 in The Gambia were married before 18 years (DHS 2019-20). Adolescent girls and young women face multiple forms of gender-based and sexual violence, including in schools and from intimate partners. Adolescent girls and young women’s decision-making power is key to their access to sexual and reproductive health rights and services, yet less than half (40%) of adolescent girls and women aged 15–49 years in The Gambia can make decisions concerning their Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights. Harmful practices such as female genital mutilation affect many adolescent girls and young women in The Gambia, with 75% of all adolescent girls and young women aged 15–19 years having undergone female genital mutilation (that, is three out of every four adolescent girls and women).
Education Plus advocates for gender-responsive reforms in policies, laws, and practices to guarantee the education, health, and other social and economic rights of adolescent girls and young people. This includes changes in parental consent requirements and eliminating user fees for adolescents to access basic HIV and other sexual and reproductive health services, supporting pregnant adolescents and young mothers to complete their education, and tackling gender-based violence, menstrual hygiene management, and mental health, among others.
The initiative also galvanizes partners to address structural barriers to young women’s effective school-to-work transitions, skilling, and training. Structural gendered inequalities have only been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic and threaten to roll back gains on their rights and gender equality. Through the Education Plus Initiative, government and partners will commit to step-up policies and investments that work best, not only for adolescent girls and young women but for communities and the country. Young women’s participation is central to the initiative.
With the launch, The Gambia joins eight other African countries to be a champion for the Education Plus Initiative. The UN system in The Gambia is a key partner and supporter of domestic resource mobilization efforts and young women’s participation to ensure that Education Plus delivers for young people. The launch will bring together representatives from relevant government ministries, United Nations agencies, educators, teacher-parent associations, communities and leaders, and young people in The Gambia.
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Press Release
21 June 2022
A Growing Pandemic We Cannot Ignore Anymore, Why We Must End Hate Speech now
Freedom of opinion and expression are key pillars of human rights and are essential in thriving democratic societies. These core freedoms support other fundamental rights, such as the freedom of religion, the right to peaceful assembly and the right to participate in political and public affairs. The evolution of social media has contributed to strengthening and promoting the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. However, this evolution has also been accompanied by a more sinister trend — an increase in hate speech both online and offline.
Like in many other parts of the world, hate speech is a serious human rights concern in The Gambia. Hate speech fuels prejudice, poisons debate, and creates a toxic atmosphere that may lead to polarization and division within societies. This is especially true during election campaigns, when passions run high and inflammatory language and hate speech become more prevalent. It is quite evident, however, that people who resort to hate speech to gain political advantage betray the weakness of their own political ideas and, in so doing, weaken the fabric of a democratic society.
We must cease all forms of discrimination and hate with more progressive policies and initiatives from diverse stakeholders in society. Hate speech threatens to undermine the numerous efforts that have been made to curb inequalities, promote peaceful coexistence and human rights, and advance the political participation of women across all sectors of governance.
During the last presidential elections, the candidates were uniquely receptive of the UN’s support and commitment to mitigating hate speech within the political forum and promoting peace building. The UN supported the Inter-Party Committee to organise a high-level “National Stakeholders’ Forum on Peaceful & Credible Elections in The Gambia” in advance of the election and to persuade political leaders to endorse a “Peace Pledge” that committed them to highest standards of electioneering, including abstaining from hate speech. To their enduring credit, and to the satisfaction of international electoral observers, political leaders stood by their pledge. And when rank-and-file party members engaged in hate speech, party leaders were quick to reprimand them. The UN also supported the National Human Rights Commission and the Gambia Press Union to train journalists on how to address hate speech in their reporting, while not amplifying its hateful message, and supported the Gambia Press Union to establish the country’s first fact checking platform — factcheckgambia.org — to help debunk fake news.
Hate speech is a virus that is spreading fast and fighting it is everyone’s responsibility. This first International Day to Counter Hate Speech, celebrated on 18 June 2022, represents a call to action to address this growing menace. We must take urgent action at local, regional, and national levels to curb the spread of hate speech and to replace it with constructive civil and political discourse. We must commit to promoting initiatives and practices that promote inclusion, diversity, and peaceful coexistence. We must say #NoToHate.
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Press Release
16 June 2022
On the Day of the African Child, UNICEF alerts that it’s past time to end female genital mutilation and child marriage in The Gambia
Banjul, 16 June 2022 – This 16th June, we once again observe the Day of the African Child, but this time with a focus on assessing progress on policies to eliminate two of the worst harmful traditional practices, FGM and child marriage, compounded by underlying violence against children. In The Gambia, more than half of girls aged 0-14 years have undergone some form of female genital mutilation, whilst more than one in four girls is married before her 18th birthday.
“On the Day of the African Child, we remember the plight of children, mostly girls, who have suffered because of harmful traditional practices,” said Gordon Jonathan Lewis, UNICEF The Gambia Representative. “We also celebrate the activists, faith-based leaders, community mobilizers, policy makers and the children and young people driving change in the country.”
For decades, campaigners have crisscrossed the length and breadth of The Gambia, meeting parents, teachers, local authorities, religious leaders, community groups, adolescents and young people to discuss FGM, child marriage and other harmful practices that affect children. Thanks to these and other efforts, the country has registered some strides in reducing some of these practices. For example, FGM among girls aged 0-14 years old dropped from 56% in 2010 to 51% in 2018. Impressively, about half of women in The Gambia now openly disapprove of FGM. Similarly, child marriage also dropped from 47% in 2010 to 34% in 2018.
“This is an important shift that ushers in hope for girls,” Mr. Lewis further added. “But while we celebrate progress, it is perhaps too soon to celebrate victory for girls. We must not rest on our laurels until every girl is protected from harmful practices. We must therefore galvanize efforts and mobilize policymakers, influencers, communities, children and young people, to step up our efforts, speak in unison and demand an end to all forms of harmful practices that impede the health and development of children, as well as their holistic transition to adolescence and adulthood.”
Notwithstanding the prevalent opinions about the need to eliminate FGM and child marriage, the practices are still widespread. Within the United Nations system, joint programmes implemented by UNICEF and UNFPA are contributing to a steady reduction of FGM and child marriage through institutional capacity strengthening, advocacy and social mobilization campaigns and community engagement and empowerment.
Female genital mutilation and child marriage rob girls of their childhood, health, and sometimes their lives. Girls subjected to FGM or married before adulthood are at increased risk of birth complications, dropping out of school and experiencing domestic violence. When girls are not healthy and educated, they are less likely to build a better future for themselves and their families. When the future of families and communities are compromised, the spiral of generational poverty is only made stronger. And when this occurs, the very future of the nation’s economy is at risk as is its social cohesion.
UNICEF calls on all stakeholders to, now more than ever, listen to girls and support them to speak up and encourages all concerned institutions to take concrete and intentional actions to protect them from harmful traditional practices. Girls need the care and protection of their parents, teachers, community and religious leaders and policymakers. More importantly, girls need a robust enforcement of child protection laws, including those banning FGM and child marriage. These actions have the potential to generate stronger results by investing more in the protection and development of girls and addressing the root causes of these practices – poverty and limited access to educational opportunities and quality health care.
FGM and child marriage keep the wheels of poverty, exclusion and inequality spinning. It’s past time we stopped them.
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