By Nasratu Kargbo
In a bid to produce a generation of successful and career-driven girls and young women, especially in the field of politics, members of the Female Caucus in Parliament are undergoing a three-day mentoring training to be well-equipped to mentor girls in society.
The UNDP–funded training with the theme: “Recruitment session and training of mentors on effective training technique and ethical consideration”, started on the 26th of August 2024 and ends.
Speaking via Zoom on the first day of the training, the President of the Female Caucus in Parliament Wuyatta B. Songa said with the enactment of the GEWE Act it’s significant that they as female MPs embrace the role of mentorship.
“Together we can cultivate a generation of women who will not only lead but also champion the principles of equality and empowerment for all. It is therefore important that as we embark on this three-day training, we remain focused and try to encourage our young women to venture into politics, and be confident in what they do as young adults”, the MP said.
She noted that training the MPs as mentors was not just an initiative but a commitment to nurturing the country’s future leaders, explaining that by equipping themselves with effective training techniques and ethical considerations, they will be able to position themselves to inspire and guide young girls who possess the potential to ascend leadership roles, particularly in the political sphere.
Highlighting what they intend to achieve in their mentoring, the President said they want to create an environment where young women can envisage themselves as their male counterparts, breaking down barriers and challenging stereotypes. Songa said they will seize the opportunity to ‘catch them young’ and instill in them the values of resilience, courage, and ambition by sharing their experiences, stating that hearing those stories will empower them to navigate complexities with confidence and integrity.
Senior Rule of Law and Human Rights Officer at UNDP, Alie B. Sesay said: “This collaboration between UNDP and Parliament of Sierra Leone to support capacity building and create a poll of mentors is timely. With the enactment of the GEWE Act 2023 which guarantees a 30 percent quota for elective and appointive public offices for women, the requisite institutional systems must be put in place to support a viable mentorship programme that prepares women for effective leadership roles”.
Sesay explained that mentoring women for leadership positions is critical for numerous reasons, as women bring unique perspectives and experiences, and reach decision-making processes and problem-solving approaches which lead to more innovative and effective solutions. He added that effective mentoring can help women navigate the challenges and overcome systemic barriers that often hinder their advancement in leadership roles and promote greater gender equality in the workplace.
“Mentoring techniques provide women with guidelines, support, and opportunities for growth, helping them develop the skills and confidence needed for leadership positions and advance their career and counteract the biases that they might encounter”.
He said over the years his institution has positioned itself as a credible partner of the government, stating that they have worked with different partners to support policies and legal reforms, which he said are logically complemented with capacity-building initiatives.
An MP from Kono District Rebecca Y. Kamara who took part in the training told Politico on the first day of the training that even if some of them are already mentors, they might lack some skills or qualities that need to be enhanced and strengthened.
“We are looking at how we as female MPs can mentor younger women not to only be politicians but to identify their career pathway, to ensure what they want to be. Everybody will not be a politician; even some of us as politicians have business backgrounds and other professional skills that we can share and teach young women to be like us or more than us” Kamara explained.
Speaking on some of the things she had learned, the MP mentioned goal setting, explaining that one cannot be a mentor without setting goals on how you would like your mentees to be and what you intend to do to achieve those goals, amongst others.
The MP said they just started and that she believed that after the training she must have learned a lot. After the training, the MPs will have to recruit mentees and start the process of mentoring them.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (28/08/24)
