By Mabinty M. Kamara
As part of her activities during her visit to Sierra Leone, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield yesterday engaged Sierra Leonean women, mostly elites, at Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone through a panel discussion.
Speaking as a panelist, on the topic “Better with women: the importance of including women in leadership “Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield recognized the important role of women in peace-building, citing the role of the women in restoring Liberia’s peace and democracy where she served as an ambassador from 2008 to 2012.
The ambassador also encouraged women and girls to be self-confident and believe in what they have to offer to the world. That she said is the beginning to breaking out of every fear and overcoming challenges.
Speaking as one of the panelists, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Dr. Isata Mahoi narrated her story of how she got inspired by Dr. Isha Ibrahim Fofanah the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Fourah Bay College to pursue further studies after the Associate professor made a presentation on gender issues and the need for women’s growth when she was still studying for her Bachelor’s degree at the university. She also encouraged other women and girls to be confident and believe in themselves so that they could break societal barriers that have over the years defined women.
In her contribution, Michelle Sesay a female engineer explained how she also broke the silence and societal norms by becoming a successful engineer, narrating a story of how she went to a project meeting as the only woman in the room and was perceived to be a secretary and asked to take a minute of the meeting. “They burst into laughter when I introduced myself as the project engineer,” he said.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield also on Wednesday 24th of January this year met with President Julius Maada Bio and other government officials at State House in Freetown.
In her statement, the ambassador noted that Sierra Leone’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Dr. Michael Imran Kanu, had been extraordinary, even though the country had only just taken up its role on the Council, the toughest 3 weeks that they had on the Council.
“But we are really delighted to work with you on the Security Council on a number of mutual issues that we will be working on together over the course of the next two years. We work closely with the A3. I consult with them as a group on a regular basis. I also consult directly, bilaterally, with each of the countries on a regular basis, but I know the A3 work together. So, I try to make sure I stay connected to the three of them and Guyana has joined them as an A 3+1,” she said.
She added: “So, we again look forward to working on a number of African issues there. I would love to hear from you, Mr. President, about your priorities on the Council, the issues that you want to address, and how we can work to support your priorities and share with you some of our priorities and discuss how we might work together on those.”
The US Ambassador to the UN ended by assuring President Bio that her country will always respect Sierra Leone’s position on the Council as they try to work and find areas of cooperation.
In his remarks, President Bio expressed Sierra Leone’s excitement to be part of the United Nations Security Council, recalling that the country had benefited quite a lot from UN activities that led to a peaceful settlement of the 11-year civil war. He said they were looking forward to sharing the experience from that particular crisis with the world.
President Bio added that they also wanted to contribute to the work of the Council because they were more concerned about peace and security around the world, especially given what was happening and their spillover effects.
It could be recalled that on June 6th, 2023, Sierra Leone was overwhelmingly elected by member states of the UN as a non-permanent member of the UUNSC, an election that highlighted the successful pursuit of Sierra Leone’s foreign policy objectives.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (26/01/24)
