INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION AT GOLLU COMMUNITY BAOMA CHIEFDOM BO DISTRICT

 

In celebration of International Women’s Day（IWD) at Gollu community Baoma Chiefdom Bo District. The chairperson Madam Matta Feika Idriss in her keynote address at the IWD celebration in Gollu community, Bo district, Sierra Leone. However, the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs has been involved in various initiatives to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in Sierra Leone, including the enactment of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act. During her statement she was able to give out the background of IWD as to how it got it roots

 

 In 1908, against a backdrop of terrible working conditions and exploitation,15,000women took to the streets in New York protesting for shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

The next year the Socialist Party of America announced a National Women’s Day to honour the strikers, and in 1910 it went global the Socialist International voted for the creation of a Women’s Day to advocate for suffrage. The first International Women’s Day was held in 1911, and more than a million people turned out to rallies in Europe.

For most of the 20^th century International Women’s Day was acknowledged and celebrated by people at the grassroots level, a rallying point for social justice. It wasn’t until 1975– International Women’s Year – that the United Nations adopted International Women’s Day on 8 March, when it is still held

Madam Feika said that IWD is a day to recognize how far we’ve come towards gender equality, and also how far we have left to go.

She further said that, more than 100 years ago, that first march was about ending harmful workplace conditions, equal rights, equal pay, and an end to exploitation. And sadly, those aims are still relevant today. Because the rights we have are not secure.

Speaking on behalf of the Paramount Chief （Baoma Chiefdom）, Mohamed Foday Kallon （Chiefdom Speaker） formally extended his heartfelt gratitude towards the work WAVES-SL is doing in their Chiefdom. He went ahead to highlights the importance of partnerships in promoting women’s empowerment and equality, and he strongly believes that WAVES-SL work in Gollu community is making a positive impact on our girls and women, hence WAVES-SL is complementing government efforts in this direction.

He furthered by decently encouraging women and girls to support WAVES-SL current project in their Chiefdom, and most especially drawing the attention of parents/guardians to prioritize things that will promote the wellbeing of their girls in order for them to reach their fullest potential in life.

The Chiefdom Speaker concluded his statement by asking WAVES-SL through the Executive Director to continue working with their women and girls in the Chiefdom, as they will be sustainably empowered.

During her keynote address, Madam Hannah Fatmata Yambasu （Executive Director） of Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society-Sierra Leone (WAVES-SL) emphasized the importance of changing the narrative around gender equality, stating, what women can do, men can do and what men can do, women can do. She highlighted the need for inclusiveness, education, and technology to promote gender equality, especially in governance and innovation. Hannah further highlighted the importance of women’s empowerment and leadership, citing examples of women who have overcome challenges to achieve greatness.

She encouraged parents to prioritize their daughters’ education and well-being, as against traditional and other culturally related harmful practices, as the latter has no positive impact for girls to reach their fullest potential in society-generally. She concluded by personally encouraging all the girls present （both in and out of school） to firmly protect their rights by raising their voices against abuse and violations-irrespective of the place of occurrence, and also value and promote their bodily integrity and autonomy.

The program was climaxed with quiz and football match. The quiz competition was between the younger adolescent’s girls and the older adolescent girls. The younger adolescent girls emerged victorious over the older adolescent girls. The best quizzer goes to Zainab Kabbia.

The football match was between the Older Women Action Group （WAG） and the Younger Women Action Group （WAG）, The older group emerged victorious over the younger group by one goal to Neel.