She frowned upon the rise in town in the number of fatherless children by young women left abandoned by their male partners.
“I will engage them to know they have a responsibility to take care of their children,” she told The Standard.
The young activist returned last week from the US where she participated in the just-concluded 58th ordinary session of the commission on the status of women, a global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
This year’s session, held at the United Nations headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2014, was the fifty-eighth.
Aisha represented the Gambia through her organisation Think Young Women, TYM, and teamed up there with the country’s women leaders, including the vice president and minister of Women’s Affairs, Dr Aja Isatou Njie Saidy.
“We have talked about women and human rights, empowerment and equity, the millennium Development goals, and the post-2015 agenda,” she said.
“Overall I learnt a lot about women’s rights issues. I have networked with lots women rights organisation. I want women in The Gambia to be fully empowered. We are going to implement projects that are meaningful to women in the Gambia. We want more women in leadership and decision making roles.”
Ms Keita vowed to put a particular focus on sexual and reproductive health awareness creation campaign, noting that men would be involved in her crusade ‘in an appropriate way’
“You cannot talk about women’s issues without involving men,” she added. “I have lot of projects were I will involve men. I want to focus on reproductive health of women because most a time people feel shy to talk about such issues in our society, and the culture of silence is affecting the health of women in The Gambia. My goal is to see women talk about issues that affect them without hesitation or shy in whatever way.”
Ms Keita, who’s also a journalist appealed to the media to create more room for women’s advancement and empowerment.
“The issue of media and women was discussed at the conference because the media play a key role in information dissemination, and effecting change. Media was tasked to carry out messages of women and empower them to be proactive.”
By Sainey MK Marenah
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