His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio has said Sierra Leone cannot achieve true progress without empowering women.
Wishing Sierra Leone women a happy Pan-African Women’s Day, President Bio tweeted: “We have matched words with action by ensuring a record representation of women in Parliament, as well as my Cabinet.
“As a nation, we acknowledge that we cannot achieve true progress and sustainable socioeconomic development without empowering our women – our equal partners in development. We honour and celebrate the remarkable contributions and indomitable spirit of the women of Sierra Leone and the entire African continent.
“We commemorate the strength, resourcefulness, resilience and achievements of our mothers, sisters and daughters who have played pivotal roles in shaping the course of our nation’s and Continent’s history.
“In Sierra Leone, we are constantly reminded of the essential role that women play in driving our nation forward. It is in recognition of the pivotal role of women that my Government passed the landmark Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) ACT which guarantees a minimum of 30% representation for women in elective, appointive and other leadership positions across the country. May Pan-African Women’s Day inspire us to build a more inclusive, prosperous and equitable Sierra Leone.”
His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio earlier made a partial Cabinet reshuffle, with a percentage of 41% women representation in replacing some ministers who served in his first term governance with new people.
Seven women have been appointed into substantive and deputy ministerial positions, out of a total of seventeen.
This puts the percentage of female representatives of the President’s first appointment at 41%, a fulfillment of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) quota of 30% of women in appointed positions for public office.
His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio signed into law the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Bill 2022, now GEWE Act 2022, and cited some transformative government reforms and gender policies in the last four and half years of his presidency.
The Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act, which President Julius Maada Bio signed into law in January 2023, calls for a 30% minimum quota of women in parliament and cabinet. It also requires companies to set aside 30% of senior-level jobs for women, with equal pay and at least 14 weeks of maternity leave.
At the signing ceremony of the Act, President Bio said: “For me, women’s economic empowerment and protection are not political rhetoric. Empowering women is essential to the health and social development of families, communities and countries. Women can reach their full potential when they live safe, fulfilled, productive lives.
“When I became President, I proclaimed that gender is firmly on my New Direction Agenda. The future of Sierra Leone is female; we must do all it takes to facilitate the timely, full, and unconditional inclusion of women in our national life, governance, and development,” he added.
Africa’s Women’s Day is observed annually across the continent on 31 July and is a day earmarked to recognise and affirm the role of women’s organising in achieving the political freedom of Africa and advancing the social and economic status of women on the continent.
Africa’s Women’s Day was proclaimed as a day to be commemorated during the first conference of the Pan-African Women’s Organization (PAWO) which was held in July 1962 in Dar es Salaam Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania).
Africa’s Women’s Day offers a national, continental and global opportunity to recall and affirm the significant role of African women in the evolution of a strong Pan-African identity, with shared values, objectives and vision for the future, as well as women being key contributors towards achieving Africa’s inclusive growth and sustainable development agenda anchored in the AU vision of an integrated prosperous and peaceful Africa
