By: Saidu Jalloh
The People’s Alliance for Reproductive Health Advocacy (PARHA) has joined the international community in celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. This day signifies a commitment to investing in women, accelerating progress, and urging states to prioritize support and investment in women to enhance societal well-being.
In a press release, PARHA acknowledged and appreciated the strides made by President Bio’s government towards legal reforms aimed at addressing gender inequality. Particularly noteworthy was the enactment of the “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act 2022,” which ensures women’s access to finance, employment opportunities, equal pay, maternity leave, and crucially, political representation.
However, despite the progress, gender inequality persists in Sierra Leone. PARHA stressed the necessity for effective measures to eliminate it, emphasizing that achieving Sustainable Development Goals relies on greater equality between women and men and increased empowerment of women and girls.
PARHA highlighted four key areas where government investment is essential to combatting gender inequality: ensuring financial assets are in the hands of women, keeping girls in school, improving access to safe motherhood and reproductive healthcare, and supporting women’s leadership.
While acknowledging the GEWE Act 2022 as a significant step forward, PARHA challenged the Sierra Leonean government to do more in addressing gaps in accessing safe motherhood and reproductive healthcare services. Specifically, they urged the government to fulfill international and national commitments by amending or repealing discriminatory laws and policies hindering access to these services.
PARHA urged the government to act on the commitments outlined in the People’s Manifesto 2023 of the Sierra Leone People’s Party by enacting and implementing the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Healthcare (SMRH) Act 2024. This would help break the chain of gender inequality against adolescent pregnancies resulting from rape, sexual penetration, and incest, and support the safe termination of wanted and unwanted pregnancies resulting from these crimes.
Furthermore, PARHA emphasized their focus on ensuring the appropriate policy, institutional, and legal environment to improve the reproductive health status of young women, girls, and other vulnerable populations in Sierra Leone.
In conclusion, PARHA stressed that failure to accelerate gender equality through economic empowerment would not only weaken health and human rights but also impede efforts to alleviate poverty, achieve equitable socioeconomic and environmental development, and attain social justice.
