In January 2023, President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone signed into law the country’s landmark Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act, which provides that at least 30 per cent of public and private jobs be reserved for women, 14 weeks of maternity leave, among others. The country’s Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Manty Tarawalli, who was at the frontline of the effort to enact the law, participated in the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York in March. Africa Renewal’s Kingsley Ighobor interviewed her about the new law and its potential impact on Sierra Leonean women. These are excerpts from the interview:
—Manty Tarawalli, Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs
Passing the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act was challenging. It was not easy because you are confronting the status quo. You are trying to change something that has existed for decades, trying to introduce a new thing.
For 40 years, Sierra Leoneans talked about the GEWE law and wanted to pass it but could not even formulate a policy on it.
But we took some steps that made us successful.
- First, we put a policy paper together.
As you know, a policy paper is not legally binding. You can choose to implement or not implement it.
- Therefore, we needed to make the policy binding so that any government that comes, whether I am there as a minister or not, will continue to implement it. That is why we went to the law, to parliament.
- Second, we went to the grassroots population to galvanize support.
It took us 13 months. We had to shift people's ideas and change the argument from just rights-based to economic growth. The economic growth conversation is that empowered women will contribute economically to the family, community and country. Once we started that conversation, we saw a bit of a change.
- For countries struggling with terminology on equality, I would advise them to change the conversation. When we are talking to Paramount Chiefs about [just] the rights of women, that is not an effective argument to make. But when we talk about how empowering women means more money to your town or village, and there will be less burden for households, people become receptive.
- And we will give examples of homes where two parents are working versus where there is only one working parent, and how two working parents thrive better. They understood that point.
- Third, we had the presidential will
(I would not just call it political will). President Bio jumped in the ring. On many occasions, on the radio and TV, he came out to support the bill and urged MPs to pass it. And straight away people wanted to sit down with me and discuss, saying, ‘Okay, now let us negotiate. In terms of jobs to be reserved for women, should it be 40 per cent minimum, or should it be 30 per cent? Do you want to bring it down?’ The negotiations meant we were making progress.
- Finally, we created a momentum that ensured the successful passing of the law.
- Overall, I am proud that we did the right thing in Sierra Leone.
I am proud of all Sierra Leonean citizens, our President who believes in gender empowerment, the MPs, our international partners and other stakeholders in the gender conversation.
The theme for this year’s CSW focuses on using the power of technology and education to empower women and girls in the digital age. What are the key takeaways for you?
As you know, this is the first in-person CSW since the pandemic, and it is great to see many countries represented in numbers, sharing experiences.
One key takeaway is that across all member states, we experience similar challenges—different levels and different stages, but similar challenges—in girls and women accessing ICT. For us, the initiatives we are taking and the political backing we have are really encouraging.
What is the level of digital access for women in Sierra Leone?
For us, digital exposure for women is quite low, under 5 per cent. However, we have put some initiatives in place, working particularly with the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network, to introduce women’s businesses to online trading. But we need strong infrastructure for that to work well.
The power supply is improving while broadband is becoming more widespread, although still expensive. We need to bring down its costs so that more women can have access. Broadband is important for trade and education, but other infrastructural elements need to fully mature to enhance access for women.
You have engaged in many bilateral talks here at this meeting in New York. Are there tangible results from these talks?
I have had several bilateral talks mostly as a result of the Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (GEWE) Act 2022 that was signed into law earlier this year.
To fully implement the law, we need all hands on deck. I was able to talk to officials of UNFPA, UN Women and Ireland. They are all supportive. They want to see implementation.
On GEWE, I'm proud to say that the legislative environment in Sierra Leone is quite rich. Now, it is about implementation.
The GEWE Act provides that a minimum of 30 per cent of elective and appointive positions in public and private sectors be reserved for women. So, we are talking about cabinet ministers like myself, heads of parastatals, ambassadors, high commissioners and so on. The GEWE Act also includes a minimum of 30 per cent of top leadership positions for women.
The law is about mainstreaming gender, and having gender units within all ministries, departments and agencies, and gender-responsive budgeting.
Access to finance is also part of it. The Bank of Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Finance are mandated to come up with new approaches to increase women’s access to finance. There is a plan to create a banking product for women that all financial institutions will sign on to.
The GEWE Act provides that a minimum of 30 per cent of elective and appointive positions in public and private sectors be reserved for women. So, we are talking about cabinet ministers like myself, heads of parastatals, ambassadors, high commissioners and so on. The GEWE Act also includes a minimum of 30 per cent of top leadership positions for women.
Does the Cabinet reflect a minimum of 30 per cent women?
Not currently, but it will. Sierra Leone is having general elections (presidential and local government elections) in June this year. The next cabinet is expected to reflect the provisions of the act.
And the ripple effect is that having women leaders in cabinet and parliament means other laws, instruments, action plans, budgets will move the gender agenda forward.
Do you anticipate any challenges with implementation?
The challenge that we see, apart from the usual funding, is to ensure that we bring the law to the people. It is not only for urban or educated women.
Everybody knows that the act has been passed, but what exactly does it mean to grassroots women? How does it touch their lives? We need now to explain it to them so that they know their rights under this law.
Here in New York, we are talking about it and everybody's hearing about it, but the Sierra Leonean woman in the village needs to know that things have changed and that opportunities have come for her.
We need structures in place to help women understand their rights so that in any village they know that they can, for example, inherit a piece of land and can be a councilor.
We are already doing some work now with our partners to ensure more women go into Parliament.
How soon do you think people can begin to feel the impact of the new law?
After the next elections, we are going to see more women in parliament, in cabinet and in other appointive positions.
We will see more women have access to finance. We will start to see the ripple effects of women in key positions. So, if you are in parliament, you are ensuring that bills have a gender agenda. If you are in other institutions, you are ensuring that the gender agenda is factored into your work.
How do you ensure compliance if, for example, the current administration is no longer in power?
The law includes penalties for those who do not comply with its provisions. It requires every political party to comply. A political party’s list of officials for elective offices may be rejected by the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone if it does not ensure that with every three names, a woman's name is included.
Did you get the support of the opposition parties in passing this law?
Yes. That is why it took 13 months. We have a hung parliament [no single party has an absolute majority] in Sierra Leone. There is no way to pass any bill without the support of the opposition.
You mentioned a finance mechanism for women. What is that about?
Currently, there is absolutely no way a bank can give a woman a loan without asking her for collateral. You cannot tell a bank ‘When a woman comes from a rural area to borrow money, don't ask for collateral.’
So, with the support of the World Bank, we want to put in place a mechanism that will ensure collateral is not as expensive as is normally the case.
Which other key gender empowerment activities is your ministry championing?
There are so many. You can talk about sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), ensuring a robust response mechanism as well as preventative measures.
We have seen a 30 per cent drop in GBV between 2019, when we started, and now [2023]
Overall, I am proud that we did the right thing in Sierra Leone. I am proud of all Sierra Leonean citizens, our President who believes in gender empowerment, the MPs, our international partners and other stakeholders in the gender conversation.
What are the specific interventions?
With sexual and gender-based violence, we looked at it in two ways: prevention and response.
I always say that response is expensive because it is costly to individuals, to the community and to the country.
On prevention, we developed a male involvement strategy. We partnered with the Ministry of Youth Affairs to train youth leaders to become gender advocates. And we sent them into the communities to change hearts and minds. Data shows that men listen to men more than they do other women.
Within the school curriculum, we introduced sex education. So young boys and girls are taught sex education, sexuality, and gender rights.
We have a response strategy. We have a call center that's open 24 hours a day across all mobile networks. We have also created one-stop centers that provide comprehensive survivor-centered services.
We provide survivors with free medical, free legal and free psychosocial services. These are dotted across the country.
And we also have a special court to fast-track cases. It sits six days a week. As a result of that, cases now move quickly through the court process.
We can't forget the work of the First Lady [Fatima Bio] who is championing the Hands Off Our Girls campaign.
What about land rights for women?
Yes, we have the Customary Land Rights Act of 2022, which guarantees women equal rights and access to land. So we are mainstreaming gender rights into land issues too. As a result, women can now own and inherit land. Before, land was mostly for men.
