Gambia’s vice president, Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, has told local and international delegates at the commemoration of 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW) in Banjul, that the crucial role that women play and must play in all efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, or to reduce child mortality, combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases and ensure environmental sustainability needs to be recognized and valued.
The delegates are attending the Beijing + 15 conference being held on 16-20 November.
It is also the 10th anniversary of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, which empowers the CEDAW Committee to hear complaints of rights violations brought by individuals.
The ongoing Eighth regional conference on women, the Beijing + 15 and the mid-decade Review of the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action, commemorated both events in Banjul today.
Njie-Saidy said that the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment is a goal that has united nations, and member states had committed themselves to it as a specific goal within the millennium development goals.
“While we (African Governments) have some progress at the level of policy development, actual improvement in the lives of women remain elusive,” she remarked.
Dr Njie-Saidy pointed out that in some instances gains in certain areas have been lost, adding that violence against women and girls remain a global concern.
With the financial, food and energy crisis, poverty at the household level is deepening with serious implications for women and girls in their social roles, responsibilities and capabilities to take advantage of opportunities for their advancement and general well being, she posited.
Satang Nabaneh, a youth activist who presented a paper at the forum indicated that CEDAW is a powerful tool for change and this fact has been realized in the Gambia by both civil society and the government.
She added that CEDAW had laid a foundation for realizing equality between women and men in The Gambia by ensuring women’s equal access and equal opportunities in public and political life ; as well as equal rights in education, employment and health care, marriage and family relations, and other areas of economic and social life.
Source African Press Agency
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