By Politico staff Writer
The Commonwealth Business Women Network Africa (CWBN), an advocacy group for female participation and empowerment, to take advantage of the Africa Free Trade initiative in the continent on 9th March 2022 commenced a seminar in Kenya under the auspices of CWBN-Kenya. The seminar coincided with International Women’s Day.
According to a report by Edwina Sia Janga in Kenya, participants from 19 member countries attended the event, some in person, and others virtually. The aim of the seminar was to enhance female participation in socio-economic and political life in their respective countries.
In her statement, Jarieu Sia Bayoh, the Commonwealth Business women Network (CBWN-Africa) focal point from Sierra Leone, expressed satisfaction for being invited to the seminar, singling out the Chief Operating Officer of CBWN-Africa, Dr. Nana Wanjau, for appointing her to serve as Focal Point for the newly-established CBWN Sierra Leone Chapter.
She noted that “the Women of Sierra Leone, have long been looking forward to the opportunity of being part of a network that would cater to their urgent needs by way of acquiring quality education, leadership skills, and the wherewithal to engage in profitable business endeavors.”
She explained that together with her team, they have initiated meaningful engagements with relevant stakeholders in the Government, as well as within the private and voluntary sectors in Sierra Leone, adding that they have paid courtesy visits to certain senior public officials, notably, the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Fatima Bio, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, and the Ministry of Youth Affairs, to inform them about the establishment of the organization.
In the area of socio-economic empowerment of women, she disclosed that the Government of Sierra Leone recently proposed a Gender Empowerment Bill that will allow women to have a 30% representation in elective and appointive positions in the country, and assured the gathering that under her stewardship, CBWN Sierra Leone will be committed to advancing UN Sustainable Development Goal 5, the Commonwealth Charter, Clusters Five, and Six of Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National Development Plan (2019 – 2023).
Bayoh maintained that CBWN Sierra Leone shall take advantage of the critical benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement and other related agreements to open up new markets and create opportunities for female entrepreneurs. She went on to explain about developments in the government’s Free Quality Education Programme, which has resulted in an exponential uptake in the number of pupils accessing primary education, including girls in vulnerable communities across the country.
In addition, she said girls offering STEM Subjects (that is, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in all public universities are given some form of scholarship to achieve good quality education in Sierra Leone, and is complemented by a School Feeding Programme targeting mainly vulnerable pupils in remote communities across the country. She stressed that the Free Quality Education (FQE) and the School Feeding have also resulted in a significant improvement in the performance of pupils at the National Primary School Examination. She also disclosed her own contribution to the enhancement of the FQE in Sierra Leone, in her hometown, where she said she had offered scholarships to vulnerable pupils and dug wells to provide easy access to water and reduce the child pregnancy rate that is associated with such exercise of water collection in areas far away from communities.
“As part of my humble contribution to the nation, I am respectfully obliged to inform this esteemed gathering that I have awarded scholarships to over 500 hundred school-going children in deprived communities, 95% of whom are vulnerable girls, sponsored a school-feeding programme for 200 orphans, and constructed water-wells in various parts of the country, out of my resources.”
She then appealed to partners and donors for support to the FQE in Sierra Leone:
“I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely and earnestly appeal through this platform to our development partners and funding agencies, including UN Agencies such as UN Women, the African Union, European Union, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the Arab Bank and the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network, among many other development institutions, for financial, material and technical support towards the development of Sierra Leone’s Educational Sector”, she said.
Among her appeals were for the construction of additional schools in far-flung communities, the provision of school learning materials to needy pupils, and the granting of scholarships to deserving students from the primary to tertiary levels, to be able to provide quality education for more girls, and also minimize the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy in the country.
In respect of developments in Sierra Leone, Madam Bayoh appealed for financial support to the ongoing construction work at the University of Kono. She assured her audience that with their help, she will make the CWBN Sierra Leone a household name.
Chair of the Common Wealth Business Women Network, Dr.Nana Wanjau, expressed delight in hosting the meeting that coincided with the International Women’s Day, saying that since women form half of the world population, they should be part of any decision-making process that will affect them. She also disclosed that as women, they should be proud that the world is recognizing them, of which the said declaration of the day by the United Nations as one that should be commemorated, is an example of this recognition. She explained that the Commonwealth is led by the Queen Elizabeth II of England, adding that among member states of the Commonwealth, there are 9 female government heads.
She spoke of the first step taken by CBWN in 2002 to help women in business and for other women to take their place in leadership.
The organistaion she said is bound by the UN Charter of equality and that trading in this group is 21% cheaper than trading with non-members.
African women have always provided economic and political leadership at national, regional, and international platforms. She stressed that this organization will provide a gender-responsive approach to promote economic empowerment of women, and provides an opportunity to engage with other partners in economic activities, human capacity building, Leadership training and empowerment of women, textile development, agricultural development, manufacturing, e-commerce, etc.
Dr. Wanjau made reference to a woman who was sexually abused, a challenge that women face across the world. She disclosed that President Uhuru Kenyata arrested all those involved. She said such a behavior should not be allowed to continue and they should stand in solidarity against such acts.
She noted that the Network is determined to establish a research plant for agriculture, and that in the area of Leadership, there is a training of women and an empowerment programme in agro-business, e-commerce. She said they are in conversation with international partners like UN Women, UK Kenya Tech-Com, Google, etc. for partnership in the training of over some 250 women that is currently taking place. Dr. Wanjau said CBWN Kenya is focused on empowering women and called on all businesswomen in Africa to join the CBWN.
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