By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The telecommunications operator Africell and the United Nations Women have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in promoting Gender Equality and Women’s empowerment in Sierra Leone.
The MoU was designed to cover three core areas of cooperation; advocacy action on ending violence against Women and Girls, Male engagement in advocacy and actions for gender equality, and the empowerment of women and institutional capacity strengthening within Africell.
Officials of Africell explained during the signing ceremony that the company will establish a national toll-free line to report sexual and gender-based violence cases, hoist up billboards carrying messages on “ending violence against women and girls’, among many other things.
Africell’s commitment also include free airtime on Afri Radio for media engagement during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence, production of joint campaign messages on advocacy material on ending violence against women and girls, and using other multi –media and communication initiatives to campaign in ending violence against women and girls.
Country Representative of UN Women, Dr Mary Okumu said that the partnership is addressing the number one national priority on ending rape against women, girls and children.
“Private sector engagement and media engagement in getting out the message to the public is very timely, as it is not only about the 16 days of activism. I think that the bottom-line all over the country is to increase accountability and to increase reporting on ending violence against women,” she said.
Mrs. Okumu added that social justice and human rights demand that everybody is treated with dignity and that girls should not be manipulated into sex for grades and women should not be sexually harassed at work place.
“Let us value each other. That’s the message; dignity and respect for each other to make a better country. The number of monies we waste on women and children getting treatment for rape and other sexual forms of violence, the amount of money government spends, the amount of sadness those people live with for the rest of their lives … so it is better for a man to respect women,” she added.
Chief Cooperate Affairs Officer, Joe Abass Bangura noted that their cooperation on this subject is out of the need to use their platform and promote the campaign for women and girls.
“Africell supports all initiatives to get our women more involved in national development, more engaged in promoting social justice, economic growth and security; leveraging their unique talents and make them strong partners in unlocking and building potentials all across the country; after all they make up more than half our planet,’ Bangura said
Bangura added that more than one third of the company’s current staff were women.
The UN Women is a global body that works for gender equality and empowerment of women. As part of their work, they have been engaged in development framework, governance, leadership and push for more women to be represented in decision making positions across the world.
© 2019 Politico Online
