We at Concord Times join the world community to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day on the theme “Digit ALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.”
As the leading and most outstanding newspaper in Sierra Leone, we dedicate this special edition as a show of solidarity for women’s empowerment and inclusion in all spheres of life.
We acknowledge the strides taken by past and present governments to ensure the emancipation of women through the enactment of several laws by the Sierra Leone Parliament and the implementation of several policies, all geared towards the protection and promotion of women’s rights.
Quiet recently, President Julius Maada Bio appended his signature to the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act 2023, which makes provision for 30% representation of women in the political arrangement of all political parties.
We view such development as a remarkable one and call on all political parties, especially the major ones-the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) and the All People’s Congress (APC) that have the potential to attain governance in the country-to adhere to the provisions of the GEWE Act and ensure that women are properly represented.
We strongly believe in the power of women to turn things around and therefore should be given the opportunity to manifest their potentials and help develop the country.
According to UNICEF, maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone is the highest in the world with 1,360 mothers dying in every 100,000 live births.
We at Concord Times view the rate of maternal mortality in Sierra Leone as very alarming and a serious human rights issue that requires urgent government attention. Women should not die while giving birth!
We are calling on the government to make the healthcare environment safe for women, who die every day while giving birth and provide adequate drugs to make the Free Health Care Initiative enviable.
In line with this year’s theme, we are calling on the government to make ICT a core module in all government and government-assisted schools across the country and provide the necessary gadgets to make the course very efficient.
We are of the strongest view that if technology is properly harnessed with women and girls considered as topmost priority, it would help bridge the existing gaps that have been militating against women’s empowerment in Sierra Leone.
Finally, we at Concord Times warmly celebrate our Sierra Leonean women and believe that the country will be a better place if women are given the opportunity they deserve to contribute to national development.
Long Live to our Sierra Leonean women of substance!
