By: Precious Miracle Kargbo
In celebration of International Girl Child’s day, UNESCO has reserved October 11 every year to reflect at the challenges and success of Girl child related activities all over the world.
However, the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Lisa Chesney has on Wednesday 11th October ,2023 joined the celebration with Purposeful Sierra Leone and promised to launch a six hundred and fifty pounds’ project that will support all girl and women right activism group in Sierra Leone.
She started off that the project is called “Move” just a stepping stone to ensure the success of girl’s activism, gender equality and to end gender based violence.
Chesney added that as an organization they are open and ready to listen to what every women`s right organization and girl child led activist are channeling to them and they in turn will create the finance that should be used to support grassroots on whatever challenges they might be facing.
Additionally, Commissioner Chesney highlights that this is not the first time they have been rendering support to women and girls in Sierra Leone, as they will continue whenever the need arises, a clear indication she cited was when the Foreign Secretary launched the women and girl strategy in BO last year.
She furthers that the project is on a different scale which spans for a total of 3 years and with financial support of six hundred and fifty thousand pounds.
They said they are very excited to start working with gender activist in Sierra Leone mainly because they have listened to the concerns of Purposeful and they want to engage in all possible means to ensure that they examine and achieve a successful project for gender activism in the country.
Chesney clearly stated that for the purpose of this project they will be working directly with ‘Purposeful Sierra Leone’ due to the amount of experience they had displayed in the gender equality field.
She stated that the most important thing is not about giving the funds to an organization but to ensure that the money is used in the right purpose for women and girls especially at grassroots level.
The British High Commissioner, Lisa Chesney maintains that her expectation at the end of this project is to be able to see women and girls at the core of government activities.
She said sitting at the table to discuss important issues and for them to be able to become important personalities and to ensure that there is continued progress in relation to girl child and gender related activities in the country.
Ms. Kamara assures that the funding will target every gender activist and girl child organization but that the process will be mainly through participation by movement organizers and girl child leaders which are well known in Sierra Leone.
She stated that already as an organization they are at the fore front in supervising and deciding who are to be the deserved beneficiary of this fund, mainly with participatory panel who will decide on who are to be sponsored for this project or not, as this is an exclusive process which will be free and fair.
