The
European Union and ActionAid The Gambia D26M co-funded project Friday certified
seven women, as well as presented land documents to women beneficiaries at a
graduation ceremony held at the Bakoteh community centre.
The
ceremony was attended by women beneficiaries and EU delegates, as well as heads
and staff of ActionAid The Gambia.
Speaking
at the ceremony, Attila Lajos, EU Ambassador to The Gambia, said they financed
the project because, in recent years, the economic growth rate in The Gambia
had “not necessarily translated into empowered and improvement of living
standards for all”.
Poverty
as well as gender inequality was very persistent, and “women are continually
facing discrimination” in terms of access to education, work, economic asset
and participation in government.
“Today
we have witnessed and heard for the first time that women in The Gambia are
being empowered to lead their communities as alkalos, and also being members of
district tribunals where most of the issues and decisions taken affect them
directly,” he said.
The
EU was part of this achievement together with all the women in The Gambia, he
added.
Also
speaking was Omar Badjie, Executive Director of ActionAid The Gambia, who said
the presentation of certificates to these women was made possible due to the
partnership between the EU and ActionAid The Gambia.
He
said the partnership supports ActionAid to move on with their strategic
objective, adding that EU came to their support, which is very timely in terms
of looking at how these women could be empowered and capacitized, so that they
become self-confident and self-reliant economically.
The
support from the EU could not be over-emphasised because it helps them to
further strengthen the collaboration between players, in their efforts to
empower local institutions to enhance the sustainability of the programme, he
continued.
He
added that the programme with support from the EU made possible to bring
different networks together to form an alliance, so that all efforts could be
put together to enhance the sustainability.
“The
support provided to the women and other partners range from leadership training
to management and capacity development, which is very critical for
sustainability. The project has built the capacity of women and created the
opportunity of self-employment at the community level.”
Pansaw
Nyassi, project coordinator, said the overall objective of the project was to
contribute to gender equality in The Gambia by promoting women’s access to
socioeconomic rights and economic empowerment.
He
said that among the achievements was that 3000 people were sensitised on
women’s socioeconomic rights and empowerment, and over 200 women were made to
be aware of their socioeconomic rights in Niamina
Six
women, who are members of the district tribunals, received training on women’s
rights and legal frameworks.
The
women beneficiaries also showed their appreciation to the project, saying it
would go a long way in helping them to generating their own economic income and
meet their needs, as the project had empowered them with skills and information
needed for them to grow economically and also speak up against rights abuses.
