Economic Empowerment
Source: Awoko
The Sierra Leone Social Marketing and Development Agency (SLaDA) together with it partners has on Thursday 26th May launched the Women Economic Empowerment Campaign on the theme ‘My Story, Your Inspiration’.
The campaign, which was initiated by Care International and funded by H.M Conscious Foundation was launched at the Bintumani Conference Hall and was attended by women from various organisations across the country, Care International representatives, UN Women, UNFPA, among others.
While he was giving an overview of the campaign, the Acting National Director of SLaDA, Robert Emmanuel Mansaray, said that the economic challenges faced by women in contributing to the economic development in Sierra Leone is enormous; he said it was due to these challenges that they thought it fit to develop a theme that will support the challenges.
He went on to say that they want to get stories that can be motivational and impact others, adding that there are judges that will look at the criteria to decide the winners.
The Country Director of Care International, Evariste Sindayigaya said ’empowering women to participate fully in economic lives is very essential to build strong economy; essential to improve the quality of life of the people’, adding that women empowerment also lead to economic benefit not only to individuals but also to the society as a whole.
Citing the Multi Sector Impact Assessment on Gender Dimension of Ebola epidemic which shows that 56.7% of women were affected by the virus, the Country Director said notwithstanding this statistics, women are still the promoters of domestic economy and family welfare which need attention.
He stated that the campaign will end at showcasing women’s role model who have gone through adversities and have a story that can inspire other women.
“Through this campaign we want to give hope to other women who are working hard with their passion to succeed,” he averred. The campaign, he said, will benefit 25,000 women in Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.
As she launched the campaign, the Programme Specialist of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Fiona Kaikai called on women to be role models and mentors. “This is your platform to be recognised and to recognise other women who have in their diverse ways made a difference in their lives and in the lives of other women,” she urged.