By Bampia James Bundu
The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Nyama Koroma, has described access to energy as an integral instrument in the development of women in the Mano River Union in particular and Africa in general.
She made this statement at the closing ceremony of a three-day conference on ‘Energy and Gender’ with the theme: “women economic empowerment through energy access in the MRU sub-region” at Tokeh in the Freetown Peninsular.
She commended participants from Guinea, Liberia, the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone for their “commitment and determination” in ensuring that they work on a formidable action plan.
“Women are crossing borders to access energy where they do not only face language barriers but also hostile attitudes towards women and girls. We should agree that considerable implication at all levels, including sexual exploitation and harassment, happens”, she said.
Mrs Koroma said that about 2.6 million women globally relied on traditional biogas for cooking, noting that the reality was that women and girls in developing countries such as Sierra Leone sometimes experienced sexual exploitation.
She described women's empowerment at national, local and personal levels as a concern to government, as demonstrated by their “high political commitment” and assured the women that government would be seen in all areas, as the action plan from the conference would be implemented accordingly.
Mrs. Koroma commended the government of Sierra Leone, the Mano River Union (MRU), the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy Efficiency (ECREE), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for jointly organizing the conference in Freetown.
The head of the Liberian Delegation, Dr. Ruth Caesar described the conference as “timely and important to women across the MRU countries” and praised the government of Sierra Leone for spearheading it.
Dr. Caesar maintained that the conference was strategic to the MRU countries as it would help them come up with a strategic framework in addressing the issues of women and energy. She commended the government of Sierra Leone for “empowering” the ‘Barefoot Women’ as they were “very much proud to meet with such a women's group". She expressed her country's commitment to ensuring the promotion of women and in ensuring that they come up with a formidable action plan at the end of the conference.
The Representative of the Ministry of Solidarity Family, Women and Children in the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, Madam Inchaud Ossso Suzanne Monique Tanau noted that her president was committed to empowering women at all levels based on the need to integrate gender in their governance system.
The Secretary General of Mano River Union, Ambassador Haja Dr. Saran Daraba Kaba, commended the President and the First Lady for actively taking part in the conference and for making it successful. She appealed to the First Lady of Sierra Leone to incorporate access to energy for women in her programmes so as to give it more prominence.
The Secretary General said the MRU was proud of the work the ‘Bare Foot Women’ were doing in Sierra Leone saying they could be used to train other women in the MRU countries.
She commended the government of Sierra Leone “for their support in promoting women’s affairs” and for “empowering women” to undertake their own projects.
