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Gender equality and women’s empowerment are high on the Gambian government’s agenda, as evidenced by the signing, ratification and implementation of a number of regional and international conventions related to women. However, despite these advances, there are still huge gaps in women’s participation in leadership roles and representation at the government level.
Many rural women expressed their views on this matter in interviews with the media and were full of optimism about the future.
Aja Fatou Sillah, a resident of Basel, said women make up the majority of the country’s population but are underrepresented at the national level.
She said the government should provide capacity building and political sensitization to improve women’s understanding of political roles and activities.
She further stated that the number of women leaders should increase, noting that this can only be achieved when women support, empower and encourage each other in politics.
She urged the government to consider more female participants at the national level.
She vowed to support fellow Gambian women in politics, saying they were tired of being supporters.
She further noted: “Women are active participants in national development, but they still have the least influence in the decision-making process.”
She implored her fellow women to collaborate, recognize each other’s efforts and support each other to achieve political equality, adding that if women do not recognize and support each other politically, they will never achieve their goals.
Aja Neneh Darboe, former MP for Lower Mansarang, has noted that women’s participation in national politics is declining, saying women can be agents of change if given proper support and empowerment.
“Women have long been the dancers and drummers of politicians, so it is time they also took up positions and were adequately represented in the decision-making process.”
She disclosed that women in the upper reaches will support and empower each other in holding positions and stop being assistants to politicians or party leaders by forming their own political parties.
The former MP recalled that over the years when she was a councillor, she observed that women were reluctant to participate in politics but she said that was no longer the case as there were capacity building trainings on women’s political participation and political sensitivity.
She called on the government to support and encourage women’s participation in politics and to establish a party system that is inclusive of women.
Lower Kabakama MP Aja Fatou Danso said women were better equipped to represent other women and their interests and would work harder for national development.
She observed that Gambian women were rarely given leadership roles but were still affected by factors that hampered their effective participation such as patriarchy, illiteracy and socio-cultural and religious beliefs.
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