Amie Sillah
I wish to take this opportunity to salute the Women of the World in
general, Africa and the Gambia in particular. Women are great. They
are the bastion of the home, shock absorbers of stress and the effects
of poverty, marginalization, oppression, degradation and exploitation.Despite all these challenges women still hold the families together.
This year’s International Women’s day is an important occasion as
we mark 20 years since the Beijing International Women’s Conference in
1995. All countries around the world are taking stock of women’s
successes, constraints and challenges in their lived realities.
In the Gambia, rural women are providing the bulk of food crops
for family consumption. Both male and female farmers still use crude
back breaking tools, lack farm inputs, storage facilities and face
insect infestation, poor infrastructure and poor market prices for
crops, irregular rainfall patterns, soil infertility, erosion and
climate change, which affect production. These constraints still
remain as challenges for self food sufficiency to better livelihood
and this is a lived reality for rural women as well as high prices of
essential food commodities.
On the socio-cultural aspect; rural women play a great role in
keeping families intact through service, care, love and empathy.
Drudgery plus poverty related ailments make them grow older than their
biological age .Poverty breeds maternal and child mortality and
morbidity.
Good cultural practices exist side by side with harmful ones which
undermine women’s dignity, health and sexuality. Practices such as
FGM/C, early/ arranged/ forced marriages, wife inheritance without
voluntary testing to prevent the transmission of STI’s/HIV/Aids,
backward widowhood rites, food taboos during pregnancy/breast feeding
and child betrothal are challenges. Poor old women are sometimes
accused of witchcraft practices which cause isolation, stigmatization,
alienation, oppression. The caste system also causes discrimination
between people which results in conflict and different people buried
at different places.
Child birth is still a big problem when women compete in polygamous
homes just to give birth to males. Female children are linked to loss
of status, Women without children became ostracized in patriarchal
society. Poor nutrition and high cost of medicine are also challenges.
On the environmental front, due to climate change, Gambia women have
many challenges such as flooding, fire, soil degradation/erosion.
Acquiring fuel such as firewood and charcoal is a challenge as it
means destroying the forest cover causing deforestation and emitting
smoke being a health hazard affecting eyes and lungs. Solar/wind power
is still illusive to rural women /urban poor women. Portable water is
still a big challenge for rural women, who trek afar to get water a
gender role for girls/women. Electricity is out of their reach because
of cost.
Professional and Business Women who are presented as success stories
also face some challenges such as access to national/
regional/international finance and markets and loss of
international partnership and opportunities due to human rights and
good governance issues .
Socially they suffer gender-based violence, woman to woman violence
in polygamous setups and all other backward traditional practices as
well as unsustainable dependency due to the economic life of the
country.
Women with disabilities are also taking a stand to be counted by
developing organizational skills and networking around their interest
to make society recognise their strength and give them solidarity to
overcome their weaknesses. They still face their challenges and
constraints such as poverty, discrimination, marginalization and
alienation.
Gender based violence against women living with disability are
enormous and society needs to give them more attention and solidarity
to ease their livelihood socio-culturally, economically and
politically.
Gambian Women in Leadership
Many training workshops have been conducted; capacity has been
built but many challenges/constraints still remain in this area.
30 percent women representation is standard, in the composition of
representative institutions. In the Gambia out of 19 cabinet members
only 4 are women including the Vice President and the number keeps
fluctuating due to lack of security of tenure; 5 Female National
Assembly Members, 4 being elected and the Deputy Speaker a female is
nominated out of a number of 53 members;
Out of 1873 Alkalolus (village heads) only 6 are women. Women
participation seem largely limited to the ward and village development
committee levels. Chieftaincy is still within the realm of patriarchy
and women are excluded. There is one female governor among 5
governors, a Mayoress in Banjul the capital and 2 male Mayors in
Banjul and Kanifing Municipality; 11 women councilors out of 114
elected councillors.
Legal Provisions
National laws call for equality of men and women in political rights.
Section 25 subsection (1)(e) states that: “Every person shall have
the right to freedom of association which shall include freedom to
form and join associations and unions, including political parties and
trade unions.
Section 26(b) of the Constitution provides that every citizen of full
age and capacity shall have right without unreasonable restriction to
take part in the conduct of public affairs directly or through freely
chosen representatives to vote and stand for elections at genuine
periodic elections for public office which elections shall be
universal and equal and be held by secret ballot.
Section 39 of the Constitution states that: every citizen of the
Gambia being 18 years or older and of sound mind shall have the right
to vote for the purpose of elections of President/Members of National
Assembly.
Every citizen of the Gambia who is a registered voter shall be
entitled to vote in a referendum held in accordance with the
Constitution or any other law.
Section 28 of the Gambia Constitution states:
1. Women shall be accorded full and equal dignity with men
2. Women shall have the right to equal treatment with men including
equal opportunities, political, economic and social activities
In addition to the constitutional provisions, the Women’s Act 2010
calls for the adoption of temporary special measures in favour Women.
This should be adopted to promote proportional representation. As a
member of the Central Committee of PDODIS , a party which is
committed to one third gender parity in all institutions of
representation, be it cabinet , The National Assembly or the councils
I call on all women to advocate for such a special measure in
promoting gender equality in representation.
The Gambia has ratified a number of important conventions such as the
CEDAW (UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women) and the Maputo Protocol. It is not too much to ask for
one third gender parity in all representative organs through
proportional representation
To conclude, I must reiterate that Illiteracy, harmful cultural
and sectarian beliefs, lack of courage and confidence, patronage in
politics, low level of awareness, lack of adequate presence of women
in key decision-making positions and inadequate information on
political issues; intimidation and threats and patriarchy in general
are pushing women out of the decision making process rather than
pulling them into achieving equal participation.
How can we as a nation transform these challenges into
opportunities to ensure full women participation?
Factors Enhancing Effective and Efficient Participation
– increasing education on Republican and democratic values
– increasing financial situation to strengthen women
– improving and increasing number of organizations standing for gender
equality and empowerment
– affirmation action/positive discrimination to introduce Quota
System List utilizing the Principle of Proportional Representation
where every vote counts,
-Constitutional/Electoral Reforms to ensure security of tenure for the
umpires of the Electoral Process
– opening the Public Media to women to amplify divergence /dissenting
voices to give the electorates diverse opinions to read manifestoes to
give informed choices
– increasing regional/global concern for gender equality and women empowerment.
– the quota system should aim at one third women presentation at all
representative institutions of the state.
Way Forward for Women Advancement in the Gambia
Creation of jobs by connecting Agriculture to Industry to add value
to agricultural products;
Cottage industries to facilitate Appropriate Technology to ease
household drudgery a big burden to rural/urban poor women;
The River Gambia/ Atlantic Ocean can create a lot of opportunities
in fish/fish products connected to industries, the creation of
fish/shrimp/oyster ponds along the length/breadth of the River;
Harnessing Sovereign National wealth from the soil, offshore to
create wealth to provide social amenities such as good road
infrastructure, subsidy to lessen utility burden and good housing for
the populace to save poor families from high cost of rent.
Constitutional, Electoral Reforms:
Adherence to Good Governance and all its qualities to provide
peace, progress, dignity and prosperity to improve lives and
livelihoods.
20 years since the landmark decisions of the Beijing Women
Conference in 1995, we are more resolved than ever to move forward
forever and backward never.
Amie Sillah]]>
