The Managing Editor of the Inquirer Newspaper is calling on the President-elect, Joseph Boakai, to prioritize women capacity building in all sectors of his government.
Madam C. Winnie Saywah Jimmy said that women make up nearly 50 percent of the nation’s population and should be given the opportunity to compete with their male counterparts in all sectors of governance, but are often marginalized, just for being women.
“We are not asking for a favor from Amb. Boakai. He should give us the same opportunities as he would give to our male counterparts for us to contribute our quota to our nation,” she said.
“I also want equal scholarship programs for our girls to study in foreign countries just as their male counterparts are doing. This, I believe, will raise the bar for competition between both sexes,” she noted.
Madam Jimmy made the call on Sunday, December 10, 2023, when she interacted with several parishioners of her church as well as other well-wisher who paid her a visit during the celebration of her 11th wedding anniversary.
She believes that the marginalization of women in every sector of the country is denying them to express themselves properly in the areas of their expertise.
“Even at the Inquirer where I work as the Managing Editor, there is still a semblance of marginalization and discrimination against the females by their male colleagues. I sometimes have to step in to make them understand that we are all professionals and should be respecters of each other,” she observed.
“It has always been the norm that the men think they are doing us a favor; that we don’t deserve the offices we are holding, or even scholarship opportunities. This is why in an entire government, they will appoint us to three ministerial positions. This has to stop and I believe that incoming President Boakai can break that tie,” she noted.
Following the civil war in Liberia, women who took on leadership roles played a pivotal role in advocating for political participation in government. Influenced by civil society advocacy, President Ellen John Sirleaf implemented a gender quota of 30 percent in government functionary.
“Even the 30 percent is small for us, women. We have the education, the potential, and mindset to help transform this country. This is evident by Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who took the country from the dust of war to an admired State by foreign partners,” the Inquirer boss said.
She said, gender mainstreaming involves ensuring that a gender perspective is included in all activities in an organization, such as policy development, research, advocacy, legislation, resource allocation, planning, implementation, and monitoring.
She noted that the incoming government should be reminded of the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men, and girls and boys, which implies that the interests, needs, and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration in the planning, decision-making, performing, and following up of all activities they are involved with.
She noted that considering these factors, the Joseph Boakai-led government should engage with women at all levels to ensure that their impact is felt in every sector of the country.
