1 woman, 11 men rep Sierra Leone at African Union summit on women
The African Union (AU) summit has just kicked off in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. This year’s theme is “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”.
Sierra Leone’s delegation to this year’s session focused on women looked something like this!
Credit: Jarrah Kawusu-Konte In this photo: Ambassador Ismail Koroma, Sulaiman Kpukumu, Gender Adviser to President Koroma Naasu Fofanah, Commissioner of Anti Corruption Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr Samura MW Kamara, Bank Governor Momodu Kargbo, Ambassador Andrew Bangali and Momodu Wurie.
Just one woman, Naasu Fofanah, Gender Special Advisor to the President was included in the delegation of 12 from Sierra Leone. To this I am compelled to ask why no members of women’s civil society groups or female parliamentarian, or other female government officials were in attendance?
In her opening address to the Meeting, H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, African Union Chairperson, raised the fact that “If women are emancipated and uplifted, the human race will get better. The ownership of this idea across the continent is substantial to make the aspirations of Agenda 2063 happen”. The Chairperson further stressed that “women’s issues should be completely and fully integrated in our ten year plan of action for the implementation of Agenda 2063”. She said that women should be integrated across of aspects of society and industries.
Looking at Sierra Leone’s delegation to this year’s summit, it seems we missed the memo on gender integration.
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That is how start to fail, how can just one woman among eleven men represent a whole country in an international summit like that to discuss isues partaining to women. Are those men better representatives of the women. Sierra Leone has done it again
This is one of those times that you have to laugh or else you will cry and not know how to stop. What in the blazes were they thinking? Oh wait, they weren’t thinking…or maybe this is just a reflection of how sad the state of affairs is in SL. This is terrible. It reminds me of the GOP’s (U.S. Republican Party) committee on re-productive health…all men on the panel. It is scary but when you criticize, there is always someone all up in arms about how the government is doing their best with what they have. However, this was very simple…IT’S A SUMMIT ON WOMEN!!!!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR PETE’S SAKE, WHO SENDS 11 MEN TO A SUMMIT ON EMPOWERING WOMEN?!!!!!!!!! It’s a no-brainer.
We have highly educated individuals in the SL government. Why are they not using the education they have received? Why are they not using the brain God gave them? Maybe these men just wanted a free trip to Ethiopa and figured this is the way to go and the government chose to fund their vacation. Smh.
,how many woman do u wsnt to see? Give me a break Sierra Leone is not d d west it in Africa if u forget ,am not saying we dont need more female to rep d country or Sierra Leone but it take time