By Olimatou Coker
With an aim to strengthen advocacy on the rights of women and girls in The Gambia, Amnesty KM Group in partnership with with Alliance Francaise de Banjul and France in The Gambia women empowerment project with stakeholders from the National Assembly, Ministry of Justice, WAVE Gambia and GAMCOTRAP on Saturday holds a panel discussion on the rights of women and girls.
at a event held at Alliance Francaise Hall, the event is aimed at preparing women and girls on their rights and how to defend themselves.
The Amnesty KM Group is an affiliate of Amnesty International, a global movement with ordinary members across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. It is envisaged to protect individuals wherever justice, freedom, and truth are denied.
The training is coming at a time when sexual and gender-based discrimination remains a pervasive issue affecting women and girls in The Gambia.
The group also used the platform to urge the government and relevant stakeholders to uphold the laws geared towards eliminating all forms of violence and abuse against women and girls.
The event also focused on key issues affecting women and girls, such as female genital mutilation and other issues affecting them.
Yasin Jallow, the deputy secretary general of the Amnesty KM Group, reiterated the need to address cultural and social barriers to gender equality.
“Our objective is to continue building capacities of women and girls and mobilise to ensure recommendations made by the select committee on the Women’s Bill 2024 are implemented,” she said.
Fatou Jarra, Program Coordinator at GAMCOTRAP, said her NGO is committed to continue fighting against all forms of gender-based violence, especially female genital mutilation.
The National Assembly Member for Banjul North, Modou Lamin Bah, reaffirms his commitment to ensure the law banning FGM in The Gambia is upheld.
He said the protection of rights of girls and women is very necessary.
“Our primary focus should be what implications it has, especially when it comes to the negative impact it has on girls and women in this country. As a parliament, we believe it is our sole responsibility and mandate to protect the rights of girls and women,” he said.
