- Your Excellencies
- Honorable Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Madam Fatou Kinteh
- Lord Mayor of Kanifing Municipality, Mr. Talib Ahmed Bensouda
- First Lady of the Republic of The Gambia, Madam Fatoumata Bah-Barrow
- UN Colleagues,
- Other Government Officials Present
- All Protocols Duly and Respectfully Observed
- Distinguished ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for this opportunity to give a statement at the Orange The Gambia: Lighting ceremony in commemoration of 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence, under the theme: Lights up: Time is up to End Gender-Based Violence!
This theme is germane in the context of Covid-19 as pandemics throughout history affect men and women disproportionately. With a reported one in three women worldwide experiencing physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner, GBV limits women’s full participation in society, negatively affecting their general wellbeing.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
Gender Based Violence is a human rights violation, which has immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women and girl, including death. GBV therefore negatively impacts families, communities, and the country at large.
This year’s 16 Days of Activism theme, “Orange the world: fund, respond, prevent, collect!”, bolsters the UN Secretary-General’s appeal and UN system-wide rapid response to the alarming surge in violence against women and girls seen this year.
“Together, we must tackle male violence that affects and damages everyone – families and communities, societies and economies – and holds back all our efforts for peace and security, human rights and sustainable development. We need to increase accountability and question attitudes and approaches that enable violence. And we must provide resources for women’s civil society organizations on the front lines," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
With a prevailing culture of impunity threatening progress achieved on gender equality and as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations System in The Gambia developed specific and practical guidelines to assist the country in addressing GBV by launching the National Gender-Based Violence Helpline geared towards mitigating the risks and addressing the issues of Gender-Based Violence in The Gambia in July 2020.
Overall, the proposed interventions of the GBV Helpline will assist in reducing the expected impact of the pandemic based on the current prevalence trends of GBV in The Gambia and its burden.
The 16 Days of Activism, which is to be marked today by the lighting ceremony to raise awareness and call for accelerated action to end all forms of Gender-Based Violence in The Gambia is part of activities in the lead up to the International Human Rights Day commemoration.
The orange light with GBV messaging to be lit this evening by Her Excellency the First Lady of The Republic of The Gambia, will stay up for the remainder of the 16-day period as a symbol of solidarity with survivors of Gender-Based Violence as well as a call to action to various stakeholders in the country to make concrete and tangible commitments to invest in eradicating GBV in the country.
We the United Nations System in The Gambia, affirm our readiness to continue supporting the Government and the people of The Gambia to end all forms of GBV.
Together, we demand a reset to build a “new normal” that delivers a future without violence for all women and girls.
I thank you all for your kind attention.