By Mabinty M. Kamara
Following a manifesto from youths, mostly girls from 41 African countries converged in Freetown Sierra Leone to discuss Sexual Health and Rights, child activists have demanded more freedom and space to make decisions concerning their bodies and life if they should thrive.
Presenting the manifesto to a huge gathering from across the continent, a Sierra Leonean youth Augusta Turay said: “we are not just that kind of humans, we are human beings. We need to be able to ask questions on burning issues, we need to voice out the things that we are going through, the violence, the harassment, the assaults, the molestation, and we have the rights to get answers to these questions’’.
She added: “In this space, we have sat together as girls and women who work with us and we have agreed that our bodies are strictly our own. We have the right to dress how we want; we have the right to make decisions about our wellbeing and life. Societal norms should not define our lives, and our characters, and we have the right to choose between what we want and what we don’t want. You don’t have to force us to join secret societies.”
She went on: “We also have the rights to the pleasures that the world has to offer us. No one must tell how girls and women should dress. No religion gives green light to female genital mutilation. Young people have the capacity to lead communities and nations”.
She said they were able to learn at the conference that the struggle of girls across Africa are the same despite the diversity, asserting that they have shared space, felt their shared power, and have learned how to stay together even after the conference.
The manifesto was developed during the youth pre-conference, a segment of the 10th African Conference on Sexual Health and Rights (ACSHR) held at the Freetown International Conference Centre.
In her statement at the opening of the main conference on Wednesday 29th June 2922, Josephine Kamara of Purposeful foundation, a feminist hub for girl’s activism rooted in Africa and working all around the world, narrated her experience growing up as a child and a teenager in the midst of poverty and how she joined the movement of advocacy for girls.
Another girl activist Victoria Kanu better known as Vicky the Poet in a poem narrated the problems of girls across the continent and called for better engagement in order to liberate them from the clutches of society.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem drew attention to the appalling situations that women and girls continue to face in the world, saying the problem was exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Violence against women and girls is preventable, with the right programmes, resources, and political will, we can terminate the challenges,” she said.
Dr. Kanem said UNFPA is working with partners to dismantle the barriers keeping women and girls from the full realization of their choices. She said the organization also works with Civil Society Organisations in Sierra Leone to deal with harmful practices and promote equality. She ended by declaring her trust in young girls, saying they are a vital part of development.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator for Sierra Leone, Dr. Babatunde A. Ahonsi told the conference there’s need to build stronger partnerships, mobilize more resources, and provide innovative and sustainable solutions to address sexual and gender-based violence.
Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh spoke about the strides made by the government of Sierra Leone to protect and ensure a safe space for women and girls to thrive both in terms of governance and sexual and reproductive health.
The Vice President of Liberia, Dr. Jowel Howard- Taylor in addressing the conference, expressed hope that the event will open new portals and platforms urgently needed to accelerate efforts at all levels for the elimination of all forms of violence directed against women especially as Statistics reveal that Africa is one of the continents with the highest recorded cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and Female Genital Mutilation.
She noted that in 2020, all stakeholders pledged action for the acceleration of solutions to all of the World’s challenges including a pledge to eliminate SGBV across the World, reduce inequalities and ensure the Human Rights of all marginalized persons; especially women and girls.
However, she said that two years on, the numbers keep rising especially on the African Continent.
“But whatever the situation is; it is clear to note that this 10th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights is an urgently needed intervention; if we as a Continent must eliminate the 3 most critical areas of abuse, namely Female Genital Mutilation, Child Marriage and Gender-based Violence of both psychological and physical proportions,” she said.
The weeklong Conference according to the organisers brought together 900 delegates, including celebrities, government officials, activists, from 41 countries across Africa, to discuss issues of Sexual Health and Rights that continue to keep women from actualizing their full potential as members of the society. It is sub divided into different thematic areas of discussions.
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