Statement at the Launch of Sierra Leone Young Women in Governance Network

Kenema

Joseph Ayamga

Country Director

14th November 2019

It is not news to us in this country. The woman in this country has always been a victim of negative
social and cultural constructions that govern our way of life, conduct of public responsibility, and the
administration of public rights and political activities. For many years, life for the woman in Sierra
Leone has always been a struggle and pain.

At birth, the woman gets her ears pierced. She gets her hair braided, exposed cultural practices that
dehumanize her, and is subjected to social pressure to look different in order to gain respect. Men
whose only impression of the woman never goes beyond her physical looks. She is never praised for
her contributions to family, community and national development. Her social and emotional creativity
are never noticed and her other notable assets are never recognised and counted. She is a product of
societal expectations, never living her own life because she has to live in order to meet the
expectations of society, especially men. She is a person meant to serve the wishes, whims and
capricious acts of the insensitive part of our society that doesn’t think beyond self-aggrandisement
and sexual pleasures for only which the woman is supposed to satisfy. Sadly, even when the woman
endures all the negativity from society and distinguishes herself, she is continuously not recognised,
accepted, valued and included in decision making. In the mind of the social man, the woman is a tool.

In the family, the woman is the servant of everyone. She values everyone, taking care of everyone
except herself and acting like the ocean. She possesses the heart of patience, love, respect, dignity,
sincerity and hope. She trusts and believes in everyone’s dream except her own.

From morning to evening, her hopes are in the children, in her husband and his family and relatives.
She ensures that the family is kept running and smoothly, ensuring that members are taken care of.
She will wake up in the morning, clean the house, the kitchen, the toilet and the surrounding. She will
prepare the breakfast, waking up as early as 4:00 am when the husband and all the children are asleep,
depriving herself of the beauty and value of deep sleep in order to ensure that breakfast is prepared
on time for everyone. Well, she is the caretaker of her husband ensuring that he eats well and that his
clothes are cleaned, ironed and well packed. If he is going to work in the morning, the wife will choose
the clothes he will wear that day and make sure he is looking good in order to keep him dear to herself.
He leaves the house early and comes back late and the woman will have to take care of the children.
She will feed them, clothe them and take them to school. When they return from school, she will
ensure they study and do their household chores. She will prepare the lunches and the dinners. She
will lead the prayers and those prayers are often for her husband and children. She never prays for
herself. The woman is the household head except that she is never called so by her children, husband
or the society. She leads, but is never told she leads. She is the governor who is never appreciated in
the family. She is the human that always adds value to everyone except herself because she is never
appreciated for who she is. Her silence is misconstrued for ignorance, inexperience and low
intelligence even when she is the wisest individual on earth. The problem is the family, senseless

In the community, she is the victim of social and cultural practices that limit her progress in all spheres
of life. In the community meetings that decide development outcomes, she sits at the back, never
allowed to talk, but observes everyone and understands everything that goes on. She is the silent

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observer that understands everything, but is never consulted on anything apart from providing water
and food for the meetings that matter. She organises the funerals and ensure that people are given
dignified burials. She holds the unity and peace needed in the community, yet is never consulted on
peace ventures. She keeps the communities hygienic, but when she fails to do that she is regarded
irresponsible. She manages the community farms and ensure that food is available all the time, yet
she is landless and never considered to have rights in owning one or even a portion of half or quarter
an acre of land. Together with her colleagues, they outnumber their male counterparts, but in
communities, numbers don’t matter. It is about those perceived to have power than those considered
to be more. Unfortunately, power is not used responsibly and she becomes the victim of everything
negative. She is considered weak and never regarded to have strengths because in our society
strength is physical. The mind and the heart are never considered to possess forms of intelligence or
wisdom at all. Everyone studies the religious books and interpret them. The woman studies them too,
but is never allowed to interpret them as much as men do in the churches and mosques.

When it comes to education, the woman is considered to be the one to stay at home and take care of
everyone. Her access to formal education is limited but her social, emotional, and mental wisdom
based on practice are unlimited, yet are not recognised and appreciated. She is subjected to cultural
practices to control her desires in order to meet the needs of the weakest men who don’t have the
slightest capacity to handle a woman’s energetic nature. The objective of such act is to ensure the
woman loses her desires in order to serve as a tool that accepts the release of unsustainable energy
by the man who satisfies himself and never considering if the woman is satisfied.

A man is allowed multiple choices of partners, but not the woman because the social law allows him
and not the woman. She is told to be respectful and obedient. She must obey men, especially her
husband and their family members and ensure that she controls herself in order to find respect in
others. Well, hypocrisy. With her obedience, she is never obeyed. She relies on a God through religion
that never saves her. She prays in order to safe her soul, but is never safe. Religion is her solace, but
such has so long disappointed her because its only answer is to control her to serve the whims and
caprices of men.

In communal groups, her voice is in never heard. She is never considered for leadership and is mostly
the organising secretary or the treasurer. In the churches, she leads the singing and the prayer worship
because that is the only place she can find her voice and to express herself to the amazement of
people.

In the mosques, she is at the back and often hidden out of respect for her body, but the truth is she is
left behind for so long.

In Friday prayers in the mosques, men always lead and the women listen. In community funerals, men
are outside, while she is inside grieving the dead and preparing food for the men outside.

In our markets, she is the champion of the entrepreneurial skill needed for the economic liberation of
Africa, especially Sierra Leone. She is boisterous, quick, creative, and reflective in the market because
she has to make the income not to meet the need of herself, but rather her children and husband. She
is the governor of men and children, yet without respect from the beneficiaries. The woman is the
economy, but not the beneficiary because she sells everything for everyone, but buys nothing for
herself because she is not seen and she is mostly a tool for the satisfaction of men and the society.

She travels distances to conduct her farm activities, often carrying with her those of her children who
are not in school or her children who close from school. She carries the last baby at the back, holds
the other on the right, while carrying the food they will eat in the farm on her head, walking on rugged

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and rough roads to the bush to farm, often with her husband at the back or not there at all. Afterall,
the man brushes the farm but cares not about processing the farm and maintaining it. That is the
responsibility of the woman and her children. Where are the men? In community barrays, in the
community meetings, playing draft or chess or even discussing politics. Sometimes, they are listening
to the radio learning to educate themselves or they travel to other districts to educate themselves.
The labour of the woman educates the educated man who is a powerful product of an unjust society
that doesn’t understand itself and the value a woman can bring to enhance an inclusive and
responsible society.

In the community, district and national politics, the woman is often absent because for so long, the
society has succeeded in making her believe in her assumed understanding of how weak she is and
her role as the keeper of the household. As a result, she is often absent from political gatherings and
when she is present, her role is to cook for the men, young or old, and to serve at the wing created
for women as a mere symbol of representation. A lopsided society has caused itself harm than build
itself because the inclusivity that is needed in politics is not present because the woman is outside the
system. As a result, an unequal society is created everywhere we go in our country, in the chiefdoms,
districts and city councils, national parliament, ministries, departments and agencies, other public
institutions. It is the community senseless

In our governance processes, political parties have become so insensitive to the needs and demands
of the woman to the extent that they never stop for a second to think if the woman is involved in the
process. The insensitivity of the family, community and national cultural practices that keep the
woman excluded and marginalised led to the insensitivity of political actors who are mostly men.
Sadly, the past and current leaders of the Country who are supposed to be the conscience of the nation
are in themselves insensitive and unaware of the role a woman plays in national development. It is
evident in the recent meeting between the two political parties in the country for peace when two
presidents were present who never for a second thought of including women in the high-power
delegation to statehouse. It is the government Senseless. The Government is led by the human being.
Also, senseless.

Despite these obstacles, women, especially young women in Sierra Leone exhibit confidence and
determination to overcome barriers to enhance responsible citizenship, dignified living, inclusive and
good governance.

It is critical to raise awareness among young women aspiring politicians, leaders, innovators and other
members of the Sierra Leone society to promote understanding and address stereotypes that continue
to ensure few women succeed in the political and other leadership arena.

To bring about a more inclusive, responsive and responsible society, it is important to work with young
women who are educated, energetic and visionary to influence and change the entrenched idea that
only men have to be leaders. It is important to remind society and that of men that women’s political
participation has profound positive and democratic impacts on the development aspiration of this
country. It is against this background that SEND, UNWOMEN and Irish Aid proposed this action to

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disrupt, dismantle and contain the limiting factors of young women’s participation in decision making,
governance and politics.

We have initiated the first ever in Sierra Leone, a Network of Young Women interested in leadership
in partnership with the Eastern Polytechnic with support from UNWOMEN and Irish Aid to champion
the empowerment of women through the young women’s confidence book of action that is developed
to support their empowerment efforts. In this network, they will learn, share and exchange
information and experience to enable them live responsive and responsible lives. They will register
with political parties to take part in elections to elect and be elected. They will seek education and
they will develop the skills needed to lead government and private institutions as leaders to push for
more women’s participation in governance and in leadership.

Who gave birth to the politician? A woman

Young women have the unlimiting power to change their present condition, learn more, sacrifice
more, and focus more on the development of the brain and the heart to do the things that men do,
even better.

At SEND-SIERRA LEONE, we are committed to delivering effective, and innovative interventions to help
young women transform their minds and hearts to contribute to economic progress and inclusive
governance. A key aspect of our approach is changing young women’s mindsets to understand that
they always have options. And to all of you, once you are able to reflect on the challenges you face
and gain a fresh perspective, we help motivate and facilitate your efforts to identify and build on what
you already have to succeed.

We don’t believe in imposing solutions to young women. Instead, we support you by giving training,
guidance and opportunity to discuss your problems, propose solutions and implement them.

This initiative builds on that vision by contributing to improving leadership skills of young women
leaders and aspirants in Sierra Leone. We will work and prepare you for leadership in all aspects of
the Sierra Leone economy by helping you to adopt transformative leadership practices, as well as
embrace the emotional and social intelligence necessary and sufficient for economic empowerment,
increased participation in politics, and enhance self-reliance. This will enhance your actions towards
successful political leadership. SEND strongly believes and supports the role of women in transforming
their communities and society.

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We remain relentless in the pursuit of this vision and through the implementation of this action, SEND-
Sierra Leone, UNWOMEN, and Irish Aid wish to make a humble contribution to the efforts aimed at
enhancing the leadership skills among young women leaders in Sierra Leone.
My question is, who gave birth to the politician? The woman.

My dear young women, if you fail to take part in leadership, if you fail to take part and change this
country, you will never have the opportunity again and your generations will not forgive you.
Long live the Young Women in Governance Network, long live Sierra Leone.