Women’s
Rights are Human Rights. Will women be bold for change?
March
8 every year is celebrated around the globe as International Women’s Day, to
celebrate the achievements of women and girls around the globe.
It is also a day when women and men use
different platforms to talk about issues concerning women and ways of engaging
the government and stakeholders, in influencing policies to protect and promote
the rights and welfare of women and girls.
‘Be
bold for change’, the campaign theme for this year’s International Women’s Day,
is more than appropriate because it is telling women and girls out there to
fasten their belts, and be bold enough to talk about issues affecting them to
effect positive change.
It
is also telling women to no longer wait for men in authority, particularly in
government to offer them jobs, but instead they should be bold to apply for
these positions, and when they are denied based on their gender, they should be
bold enough to talk about it and share it with the world.
International
Women’s Day is celebrated every year in The Gambia, as it is celebrated around
the globe by individuals and women’s rights groups and activists, as well as
the UN agencies present in the country. This year, however, it came at a time
when the country is preparing for National Assembly Elections and, judging by
the activities of the political parties, it looks like there are more male
candidates out there than female candidates, and the reasons for that disparity
may be best known to them.
Women
are peaceful people and always advocate for peace, which is why God has given
the woman the difficult task of putting a family together, which a man cannot
do successfully without playing favoritism among his children.
But it is really sad to see that when it is
time for elections, women are not given as much attention as their male
counterparts; but when there is a political feud between parties, they will
start painting women with their party colours and placed them at the center of
the fight, as we are seeing today in Gambian politics.
Using
our women, who are mostly our mothers, to fight political battles is becoming a
reality in the Gambian political landscape, when the political feud itself was started
by men who are usually the head of these political parties.
These are mostly grassroots women with no
conventional educational background, and what they need is for the political
parties to accommodate them in a right manner, as part of moving their
political agenda forward with their participation in decision making positions.
Therefore,
we are calling on our beautiful mothers belonging to different political
parties to be bold for change, and speak against any political party leader who
wants to use them to fight a political feud they started.
They want you in their political bureaus and
rallies because you are great thinkers, innovators and powerful orators who had
what it takes to win the hearts and minds of the electorates. Be bold for
change and be the political game player and not them playing you as their
political game.
There
are many reasons why women of The Gambia failed to contest elections, including
lack of financial assistance and other stereotypical attitudes and hate speech
being thrown at them by the people they want to serve, just because they are
women.
We
called on the government to put a scheme in place that will sponsor female
candidates for the upcoming National Assembly elections.
We
called on the society and the Gambian people to start appreciating women in
position, especially political positions with the same respect and loyalty
accorded to men.
For
women out there, who want to contest for the National Assembly elections, it is
time for you to make your intentions known publicly, because no one gains
anything by hiding.
We
came from the society and we helped build it with every little resource that we
had as women; so we should be bold enough to tackle the negative comments from
those who know us, because it is not their fault; maybe they are just doing
what they think is best, but at the end of the day the vote belongs to the
electorates.
The
electorates will listen to every negative comment and gossip about a female
candidate, but at the end of the day, they are looking for competent people to
lead them and, if you are one of them, you will definitely find your way to the
National Assembly with ease.
Women
candidates should know that the Women’s Act and other laws are here to protect
them and any candidate, be you male or female, who tries to use hate speech
against you is committing a crime.
We
want women to start reaping the fruits of their labour, because women are the
pillars of every political party in the country; so they should be defined as
partners and not the other way around.
We
called upon other non-state actors to not just stop at convening symposiums,
asking women to contest for National Assembly Elections, but they should go
through the trouble of finding funds to support the campaign of these women, so
that they can equally have a level playing ground as that of their male
counterpart.
Be
bold for change is not a campaign theme for only women, but men as well. Let
our male counterparts see women candidates as competent and as good as their
male counterparts, and to support them all the way so that attaining the:
“women in the changing world of work: planet 50-50 by 2030” can be a reality
for all to enjoy and live in peace.
Happy
International Women’s Day to all Gambian women and men who support our cause!
