By Mohamed Macarthy
In their continued fight against Gender Based Violence in Sierra Leone, Plan International Sierra Leone on the 8th December 2021 advocated for a robust end to Gender Based Violence and other domestic crimes against women and girls.
The advocacy which took place at the Lumley roundabout in Freetown attracted women and girls and other reputable advocacy networks from other districts across the country.
The Gender and Inclusion Officer for Plan International Sierra Leone, Konima Borbor Kamara said the advocacy campaign is one of the programmes captured in their sixteen days of activism with this year’s theme, “Orange the World and end violence against women now”.
She said that the advocacy is geared towards raising greater awareness on the elimination of GBV against women and girls.
She noted that their sixteen days of activism are very much pivotal to Plan International globally and Plan International Sierra Leone in tackling the problem. She said the series of events started on the 25th of November and it will end this Friday 10th December, 2021.
In an exclusive interview with Politico Newspaper, Khadija Bakar, Project Manager who also doubles as the President for Women’s Forum Network in Plan International said that it is obvious that women and girls are very vulnerable, and as such, they are more prone to GBV and other related crimes than men and boys.
She noted that everyone is cognisant of the apparent determination in which women and girls are pushing very hard to become resourceful in society.
She said women and girls should be supported when faced with challenges with everyone coming on board to ensure that they realize their fullest potentials. She stated that violence in any form must be condemned and that women and girls should not be considered as sex objects or liabilities at home.
The project Manager urged males to kindly continue giving upper hands to women and girls so that they will add value to society and become very constructive in the national discourse.
Bakar said that they should not be discouraged whilst struggling to improve themselves as there is a tendency to stagnate their developmental trajectories.
Sallieu Conteh who once served as a Communications intern and currently representing the views of young people at the advisory panel at Plan International Sierra Leone disclosed that they are part of an internal decision making body that supports young people on accountability issues.
Conteh noted that Plan International is primarily working for young people in a bid to create an enabling environment so that they would be given adequate opportunities. He added that Plan has been in the country for decades and has immensely contributed to the socio-economic development of the country.
Copyright © Politico Online 10/12/21
