VP Foh highlights government’s commitment to empowerment of women
Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Ambassador Victor Bockarie Foh on Friday, 12 June said, the Government of His Excellency , President Ernest Bai Koroma gives great prominence to the issue of women empowerment and gender equality as could be seen in Pillar 8 of the country’s development trajectory, the Agenda for Prosperity (AfP).
He spoke in Makeni, whilst deputizing His Excellency President Koroma, during the official launch of the Women Empowered for Leadership and Development (WELD Project) at Wusum Hotel.
According to Vice President Foh, Government had invested considerable expertise, efforts and resources into the Agenda for Prosperity, Pillar 8 of which deals exclusively with issues of women empowerment and gender equality. Considerable gains, he said, were made in the country, prior to the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease.
Despite the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in the country, Vice President Foh said, Government is committed to meeting those development goals outlined in the AfP, especially in creating an admirable Sierra Leone. “It has not impeded our resolve to move forward and take the country to another level”, he assured.
Speaking on the WELD Project, Ambassador Foh said, the overall project goal is to increase women’s social, economic and political participation in the governance realm and that it will also “support women’s leadership development by building the capacity of local councils and sub-national entities to plan, manage and deliver appropriate gender sensitive programmes and policies for effective service delivery.
The Vice President thanked the country’s development partners, especially the United States of America, who discussed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2013 with the G0vernment of Sierra Leone, which among other matters, support the promotion of gender equality, the empowerment of women and women’s right.
In 2014, the Vice President said, the US Government through USAID approved a $3.9m three-year Grant to World Vision International in support of the country’s Agenda for Prosperity. This grant, he said, was specifically meant for the WELD Project.
In his statement, the Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Alhaji Moijue Kaikai thanked President Koroma for promoting women and children’s issues.
The launch of the WELD Project, he said was in line with Government’s commitment to ensuring women empowerment and gender equality in accordance with Pillar 8 of the AfP.
Minister Kaikai disclosed that the WELD Project will also benefit Ebola survivors across the country, assuring that his ministry will play a monitoring and evaluation role in ensuring the full implementation of the Project. He called on stakeholders, especially civil society groups to be monitors of the Project for its full implementation.
Also making a statement was the US Ambassador to Sierra Leone, John Hoover who pledged the US Government’s continued support to Sierra Leone’s development. When women are safe and empowered, he said, society benefits a lot.
The WELD Project has strategic objectives of ensuring; women’s empowerment and representation in decision-making processes is increased; gender sensitive planning, monitoring and reporting adopted at council, community and national level and critical mass of organizations to influence gender policies at the national level also increased.
The Project will be implemented through a consortium of national and international humanitarian organizations led by World Vision International. Other consortium partners include; Action Aid, Network Movement for Justice and Development, and Advocacy Movement Network.
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