By Omar Bah
The Gambia will host the international forum on caring territories for women victims of violence organised by the United Cities and Local Governments World Secretariat in collaboration with international partners.
The meeting, which starts on 22 January at the Sir Dawda Conference Center, will be attended by twenty mayors from around the world.
The meeting will be opened by President Adama Barrow who will deliver a statement
According to the UNLG World, the objective is to exchange experiences on policies and programmes to combat violence against women within the framework of the international programme caring territories for women victims of violence 2021-2024.
The programme builds on the 20 years of experience of the local observatory on violence against women in the department of Seine-Saint Denis, France.
Its objective is to emphasise the crucial role of local and regional governments in combating violence against women through training, mutual learning, and joint international advocacy, leveraging the work of UCLG World and its committee on social-on-social inclusion, participatory democracy and human rights. It also seeks to promote the implementation of local public policies to eradicate violence against women around the world; as well as to scale up local efforts at the international level.
In 2024, the programme will focus on exploring the challenges and opportunities of fighting violence against women in African Local Governments, building on the remarkable strides of this Banjul training to improve the welfare of women and the promotion of their rights especially in Africa.
The mayor of Banjul, Rohey Malick Lowe, said she is thrilled to host such a very important event in The Gambia and she is looking forward to a successful programme.
