By Mabinty M. Kamara
The thunderous applause by hundreds of progressive women and girls from across the African continent reverberated around the enclosed Bintumani Auditorium in Freetown last Friday when President Julius Maada Bio announced his government’s approval of the Safe Motherhood Bill that guarantees women’s reproductive rights and choice.
“At a time in the world when sexual and reproductive health rights for women are either being overturned or threatened, we are proud that Sierra Leone can once again lead with progressive reforms. My government has unanimously approved a Safe Motherhood bill that will include a range of critical provisions to ensure the health and
the dignity of all girls and women of reproductive age in this country,” he said.
President Bio was speaking at the close of the weeklong 10th African Conference on Sexual Health and Rights that brought together activists, celebrities, educationists, and government officials across Africa for a radical conversation on feminism. Highlighting the political will of his government to protect, support, and ensure women’s growth, President Bio boasted that as an African man, and an African leader, he can speak freely and publicly about menstruation because to him, there is no shame in menstruation.
“The only shame is that our girls continue to be held back and left behind, shut out of the classroom for over eighty days of a year. We must act now to remove the stigma and national Governments must work to provide safe and affordable sanitary products for girls,” he said.
He also spoke about the sexuality education component in the national school curriculum which he referred to as science and evidence-based, noting that it will ensure children can access the tools and the information they need to make informed choices about their lives and their bodies. He also mentioned the Gender Empowerment and Equality Bill that is before parliament for enactment, saying that the bill guarantees a 30% quota for women’s political participation in Sierra Leone.
President Bio pledged his continued commitment while calling on other leaders to pledge to continue working to create a world equitable, free of violence against every girl and woman.
“We must make courageous, evidence-based, and audacious choices as leaders and as citizens if we are to build a country of inclusion, dignity, and safety for everyone,” he stated. He received warm commendations from the guests present including popular African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka from South Africa who said she is not a friend of politicians because they only get closer to the people when they needed to be voted for but that she has grown to like President Bio because of his progressive actions towards women and girls and most especially his wife.
That notwithstanding, she called on President Bio to put the country first by ensuring that Sierra Leoneans benefit from the resources of the country. “Let the investors who come here work with the people of the country,” she said, adding that the people should be able to demand what they want. “We want to thank you for your leadership, we appreciate you in fact, Mr. President, I want to thank your mother for raising such a man. A man who respects women, a man who loves his wife and children, and a man who loves his country,” he said.
The safe motherhood bill was first introduced in Sierra Leone in 2015 as a private member bill in the parliament of Sierra Leone named the Safe Abortion bill of 2015. The bill became highly contested by pro-life activists including religious groups and some medical practitioners. The bill was later controversially passed by parliament but never received the much-needed presidential assent of the then All Peoples Congress party-led government of Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (04/07/22)
