By Jenneh Braima
Civil Society Movement, the umbrella Civil Society Organizations’ body in Sierra Leone, has refuted allegations made by the deputy minister of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs, Mustapha Bai Attilla, that CSOs in the country were doing next to nothing where gender issues were concerned.
The minister, in a press conference last week had accused CSOs of being swift to publish negative reports about government activities and performance while failing to propagate women and children issues.
Speaking to politico, CSM’s administrative Officer, Mark Mahmud Kalokoh, stated that the minister should know where to draw the lines between NGOs and CSOs, especially when it came to operations and mandates.
He said the assertion by the minister that they were doing little or nothing to promote gender issues was “not tangible”.
He explained that there were different organizations in the movement like the Network Movement for Justices and Development, Campaign for Good Governance, amongst others that were dealing with children and women issues.
Kalokoh noted that his movement was an active and credible one when it came to dealing with issues, citing their role during the rebel war when there were a lot of abuses of women and children. He explained that the CSM had then gone into active dialogue with the then rebel leader who was later arrested and prosecuted.
He said they also prepared many women to contest for leadership positions in the last elections, adding that they always encourage them to be part of the decision making process in the country.
Presently, he explained, they were all over the country donating food items to Ebola survivors and those that are affected by the disease, especially women and children. He added that they were also supporting children in schools by providing them with scholarships, through the Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union.
Vice President of the Gbagalola Women Organization, Juliet Anderson, said: “It is unfortunate for the minister to make such utterances in a press conference”. She stated that their role, as CSOs, was to take care of women and children issues, adding that they have been traveling around the country to sensitize women and children in various communities.
She said they have been setting up child welfare committees in the communities they visit.
“With all these and many more how can the minister say that Civil Society Organizations were swift to publish negative issues of the government activities but have failed to propagate women and children’s issues?” she wondered.
© Politico 22/01/15
