A Day for Reflection and Planning for Future Success
Friday 7th March 2008

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. All over the world the nations of the world will come together to celebrate the role of women in society and to examine areas where improvements can be made in terms of gender equality and the protection of the rights of women. It is therefore an excellent opportunity for us here in The Gambia to examine our progress in terms of gender equality in this country. There is no doubt that we are making significant progress in terms of gender equality but a lot more needs to be done.

Here in The Gambia we have a female Vice-President, Dr. Aja Isatou Njie Saidy. This is of course an excellent role model for young girls and women to aspire to and sets a great example for other institutions in the country to follow. Here at The Point we are in the unique position of having female Sports Editor, Ms Sainabou Kujabi. Again this is a great example for girls to aspire to. Sport is traditionally such a male dominated area that women can often find themselves excluded. To have Sainabou blazing a trail in this area is very beneficial.

We are seeing increased access to education for girls in recent years. This was an area where women were discriminated against for many years and while it will not change overnight it is being addressed. Because it is we should not let our concentration slip or allow the momentum to die because the role of education in empowering women cannot be overemphasised. 

While we are making progress there are still a number of issues which we need to address. Violence against women continues to be an issue in The Gambia. We must not rest until it has been wiped out completely. It must be completely socially unacceptable for a man to beat his wife and anyone found guilty of doing so must be punished for their actions. According to recently published estimates between 3% and 8% of pregnant women are victims of violence. Unhappily once it has begun it doesn’t stop with the birth of the child. The researchers discovered that in 3% to 6% of cases the brutality continued after the birth. This type of violence is more common among unstable couples or when one of the partners is unemployed.

The consequences of this violence for the health of the mother and the child are obviously appalling, leading to miscarriages, premature births and detached placenta. Later on, seven times out of ten, the children themselves become the captive witnesses of parental violence. In 10% of cases they are also its victims.

If we are to continue making progress in the area of gender equality we must redouble our efforts to change people’s attitudes so as to make a fertile breeding ground for progress. As long as there are people who would wish to oppress women in the society our job is not done.

If we deny women an active role in society we are denying the nation access to a massive percentage of the intelligent minds in the country. All the potential which has been wasted throughout the years because of the exclusion of women is a true shame to us all.

We must use the opportunity of International Women’s Day to take stock of the progress we have made in this area and identify ways we can improve the situation. We must do this not only for the women of The Gambia but for the Nation herself.


CRIME WATCH

The police are asking the general public to call any of the following telephone numbers: 

112 / 99 66 967 / 99 60 109 / 99 76 012 / 99 76 008 / 99 76 010 to report anyone suspected or caught engaged in criminal activities.