Enhancing Female Participation In Politics…
Stop It SL Launches “Uman Political Barray”
Stop It Sierra Leone, a non-profit rights organization launched the “Uman Political Barray” on Monday 8th May at their 17 Off King Harman Road Office in Freetown.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Mr. John Koroma, the CEO of Stop It SL and also Lead Campaigner for #SHESTANDS2023, said that the launch of this project follows a recent announcement of funding to the organization, which is implementing #SHESTANDS2023, a gender and governance programme of Stop It SL and Partners.
He revealed to the audience that the project was being sponsored by iMDev (Initiatives for Media Development), with funding from UNESCO’s IPDC Programme. Mr. Koroma announced that the districts of Bo, Bombali, Bonthe, Kambia and Western Area Urban, would benefit from the project, which is one month, and thereafter the donors would be notified of its completion.
The ‘Uman Political Barray’ comes after the end of the local, Mayoral, MP and Presidential nominations, and the outcome of concerns of many local and international partners, who are desirous to know about the situation of women in the public domain. The main thrust of the project is to gauge opinions about whether the media is really covering women and allowing them space in the information circuit.
According to specifications of this project, it would involve five female politicians holding meetings at various barrays within the specified districts, and the facilitators would act as chiefs to preside over matters and complaints women have about the media and politics in Sierra Leone.
In the recent past, complaints about symbol primaries, marginalizations and lack of interest in hearing or reporting women’s stories by the media, have been topical issues and debates among information gurus, and served as serious pointers to democracy and gender empowerment. As such, UNESCO and iMDev have collaborated together to employ the services of Stop It SL to gauge the opinions of women, how they feel.
In the barrays, the discussions would aim to capture women’s experience and understanding about politics, political participation, access to the media in terms of coverage and representation, etc.
Meanwhile, the project kicked off on Thursday in Bo with #SHESTANDS Bo Chapter hosting the Barray at CASE SALONE, one of the partners of Stop It SL, at their office. According to National Coordinator of #SHESTANDS, Madam Susan Oya Bangura, the iMdev sponsored project is titled: Sierra Leone 2023 Elections: Enhancing the Capacity of Female Journalists in Community Radio to Address Policy Issues on SGBV. It is funded by UNESCO under the IPDC programme.
#SHESTANDS2023
