gender inequality in sierra leone

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gender inequality in sierra leone

The women of Sierra Leone have faced and still face grave inequalities, but this issue has started to have some solid improvement. Looking for a flexible role? In particular, it highlights women's increasing agency in acquiring knowledge, diffusing power, engaging in grassroots politics, and compelling the government to adopt . Yet despite the challenges posed by climate change and gender inequality, evidence shows that women are actively contributing to building resilient cities. Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 August 2022: After sixty years of procrastination, the Parliament of Sierra Leone has today passed into law "The Customary Land Rights Act 2022", which the government says will address deep inequalities and discrimination in the ownership and control of land, especially in the provinces. By Anjali Manivannan. A very ridiculous law has gone in effect in April to ban girls who are pregnant from school even if it was a, It is the 21st century and although politics and the world is never perfect, inequality should not be an issue we as a world should talk about. These dystopian worlds attempting to live in a community where equality is the focus, have failed. Nevertheless, gender inequality and denial of womens rights are still prevalent at all levels in Sierra Leonean society even though the women for50.8 per cent of thepopulation. In Haitian, there are specific roles and social spaces that women occupy. They currently they hold less than a seventh of the seats. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. Chingono, M. (1996). Women make up much of the farming workforce, says Yeanoh. Almost 58% of girls get married before they turn 18 years old. A strong emphasis on the human rights, including reproductive rights, of individual women and men underpins all of UNFPA's work. In 2013 the Governments Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper III Agenda for Prosperity (2013-2018) had a standalone pillar that focused on gender equality and womens empowerment with gender mainstreamed in all the other pillars. Photo:UN Women/ Cecil Nelson. In addition, many areas such as gender and poverty, physical and sexual harassment, womens access to assets (including land), and gender and the environment lack comparable methodologies for reguar monitoring. UN Women Representative to Ethiopia, African Union and Economic Commission for Africa, Letty Chiwara making a statement at the HeForShe Launch. Gender inequality in agriculture in Sierra Leone. Equality started a family with his beloved, The Golden One and lived happily ever after (Rand, n.pag.). Vice President Victor Bockarie Foh Signing the HeForShe Board. This is trying to help eliminate gender discrimination in many countries, including Sierra Leone (MDGs). The description is composed by our digital data assistant. Sierra Leone represents a unique case to assess the gendered impacts of COVID-19. This colonial originated urban bias where urban centres were favoured as centres of control and economic growth meant the rural peripheries were only further left behind in their development, increasing inequalities and sustaining poverty. Some females have been taught their entire life that they will never be as good as the opposite sex, and so they began to believe those fabrications themselves. Oxfam started operations in Sierra Leone in 1998, with relief work focused on emergency water, sanitation and hygiene provision in the context of the civil war that was ongoing at the time. To reflect the commitment of the Government in meeting global obligations, legislative reforms in the following critical areas - as required by the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) have been enacted: Domestic Violence Act 2007, Devolution of Estates Act 2007, Registration of Customary, Marriage and Divorce Act 2009, Child Rights Act 2007 and the Sexual Offences Act 2012. Providing universal access to, and ensuring the completion of, primary education for all girls and boys is one of the key areas of concern identified in the Beijing Platform for Action adopted in 1995. . He finally realizes that the life he was previously living is not the way he wants to live his life. Education is very important in order to explore the potentials that will drive every person to their future pathways of success. But, the country is starting to turn around. This would allow the teachers to teach all the students new, modern ideas. Sierra Leonean women are at risk for sexual and gender-based violence in the form of domestic violence, sexual assault of adults and minors, marital rape, school-related sexual abuse, and harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation. So, with all of the good steps being taken, Sierra Leone may be able to really turn the problem of gender inequity around. When it comes to early marriages, South Asia leads the world. Sierra Leone: Gender Inequalityby Chris Crane. In 2022, global gender gap index for Sierra Leone was 0.67 index. The world citizens held different viewpoints. Despite this, there have been positive changes in regard to gender equality in Sudan. In Sierra Leone, over 700,000 households (58 percent of total households) are engaged in agriculture, mostly of a subsistence nature, with approximately 250,000 households involved in the fishery sector. The third one of these goals is to promote gender equality and empower women (MDGs Sierra Leone). UNFPA works with the Ministry of Gender and Childrens Affairs by providing capacity building through financial and technical assistance. The Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality . This year, Sierra Leone has been elevated to a partner country for Irish Aid, with funding for malnutrition and gender inequality including sexual violence. Instead, they focused upon areas such as Freetown for investment which they would prosper the most, simply widening the gap between rural rich and urban poor. The political system established during colonialism was made of a system of Paramount Chiefs who were elected by local Notables. USAID helps empower women in Sierra Leone through continuous sensitization, training in leadership skills, advocacy and planning and entrepreneurship. Current activities also supported by UNFPA include community mobilisation/sensitisation and demand creation activities for family planning, reproductive health and fistula services. Disclaimer: This is an example of a student written essay.Click here for sample essays written by our professional writers. Equality is such an important thing in our everyday lives. Their voice, visibility, participation, and representation in elective and appointment positions remain very low compared to men. No plagiarism, guaranteed! A functional National Committee on Gender-Based Violence comprising partner organisations working on the prevention and response to issues of gender-based violence across the country. No one is exactly like another human on this planet. Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Sierra Leone 2 Executive summary From July 4th-14th 2006, International Alert conducted a mapping of the incidence of GBV and the programmes that are being implemented to address it in Sierra Leone on behalf of Irish Aid. Sierra Leone is a small but densely populated country on the North Atlantic coast of West Africa, ranked 182 out of 189 countries in the 2020 Human Development Index. Study for free with our range of university lectures! We should learn from the past and try to create a better situations in countries like Sierra Leone. The system required totally restructuring, which to this day has not been fulfilled. The country has a Gender Inequality Index-GII value of 0.644, ranking it 153 out of 162 countries in the 2018 Index. Not only will it empower women, but it will positively impact each family, community, and country. by Megan Borishansky Historical Background Colonized by the British as a territory for liberated slaves known as Creoles or "Krios", Sierra Leone's history is one of class divisions and gender inequality, compounded by the civil war of 1992-2002 and struggles over natural resources. Keywords: Sierra Leone, gender, artisanal mining, governance, genre, exploitation minire artisanale, gouvernance. In the modern century, for most countries around world it seemed that gender inequality is cruel and unreasonable, but countries in mid-Asia are exceptions. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. We promote gender equality and women's empowerment across sectors by focusing on improving women's health, increasing their participation in governance at all levels through increasing the political, social and economic rights of women . According to the Gender Inequality Index (GII), Denmark was the most gender equal country in the world in 2021. Many times people are not given the same opportunities as they are not treated equally. The economic system within Sierra Leone alike the education system, preserves the problems of poverty and inequality within the population, particularly in the rural areas. The Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality between women and men in three different dimensions: reproductive health (maternal . The civil war and the Ebola crisis changed gender norms in favour of emancipation of women. Freetown was established as a British colony where the slave trade was suppressed and Creoles dominated . The site is secure. The body of 21-year-old . What surprised me the most were the cultural norms that accepted this unfair decision of females not being able to attend schools because of their gender. This created the root of the overwhelming and still existing problem of corruption in Sierra Leone whereby individuals of power failed to act in the best interests of the majority, which of course is the rural population. UNDP Residence Coordinator, Sunil Saigal signs the HeForShe board. Colonization in the country really left the beliefs on gender equality the same, and they have really remained the same since. Sierra Leone has sustained low literacy rates, in 2013 this was still extremely low at 32.4% (World Bank). One solution is to send more students studying abroad, which would show the students what the rest of the world thinks of women. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal government site. It is not only the healthcare system that suffers from corruption; the problem persists through all the systems of this nation. When a society is ruled in a communistic fashion, like Harrison Bergeron and Anthem, pleasing everyone is nearly impossible. Economic agendas in civil wars. Speakers, including members of parliament and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament expressed their belief that the HeForShe Campaign will serve as a stepping board in putting an end to gender inequality by 2030. Access to quality education, retention and completion of school remain challenges for children in Sierra Leone. Prohibiting women from going to school means prohibiting them from accomplishing their goals and becoming independent. The $40 million estimated tax lost to Sierra Leone from 2009-2016 with Sierra Rutile company is enough to cover the health care of over 67,000 Sierra Leonean women and children for one year under the country's Free Health Care Initiative. As a result the poorest rural communities reliant upon agriculture have been forced to forage for bush yam, which is usually regarded as a famine food, prior to the harvest of July, as early as April which is planting time, this is an example of the dire poverty continuing year on year. The country was rated 153 out of 162 in the 2018 index, clearly exposing the gender inequality gap. Issues of unequal opportunities for boys and girls continue to be exacerbated by factors such as early marriage for girls, teenage pregnancies and harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The goal of the project is to empower women and girls to pursue their potential, free from violence and inequality, focusing on increasing their economic resources, train them on how to voice their priorities and participate in decisions that affect themselves and their homes and strengthen gender-based violence (GBV) response, coordination and referral pathways. As of december 2020, only 41.7% of indicators needed to monitor the SDGs from a gender perspective were available, with gaps in key areas, in particular: unpaid care and domestic work and key labour market indicators, such as the gender pay gap. Sudan is a developing nation that faces many challenges in regard to gender inequality. In some areas, however, progress toward gender equality has been limitedeven in developed countries. Many traditional cultures, including America, teach that men should lead in families, business, and government, but does that still hold true today? The estimated level of inequality in Sierra Leone is also lower than for many settlements of the same . There is a clear preference for boys' education, it is mostly because people think that investing in girls' education is just a waste of money, since there will not be the one that support a family financially. This is because many indigenous groups and their practices still support the belief that men are superior to men (Sierra Leone). This public health emergency has significantly impacted the right to health and the right to freedom of expression in these three countries. Overall, 10 million women and children are expected to benefit.7 Box1. Some of these challenges include lack of economic independence, high illiteracy and entrenched customs and traditions and the lack of confidence to vie for public positions. Since then, considerable progress has been made in achieving universal primary education and closing the gender gap in enrollment. I was never aware of the terrible conditions that migrant workers faced. Sierra Leone was first colonialized by the British in 1787, their influence over hundreds of years affected all aspects of the nation, from trade structure to education system . The third one of these goals is to promote gender equality and empower women (MDGs Sierra Leone). An official website of the United States government. The adolescent birth rate is 102 per 1,000 women aged 15-19 as of 2018, down from 139.4 per 1,000 in 2015. Ismail Kamara is a Mass Communications student at Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone who attended the launch event. It seemed like a very strict world to be living in at that time. 61% of women in the Sierra Leone will experience gender-based violence (GBV) in their lifetime. To accomplish this, the . The curriculum focused on learning English (Fyle 1986) rather than skill based learning which would benefit rural children more practically gaining employability opportunities, generate income and alleviate their families from poverty. Sierra Leone faces several problems regarding various forms of sexual violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, rape of adults and minors, marital rape, and school-related sexual abuse, as well as supposedly harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM). Despite the . However like many other countries, Sierra Leon is known for not providing these opportunities for girls. Gender inequity in Sierra Leone is still a huge problem but many efforts are happening and its status is improving. Freedom House gave Sudan the lowest possible ranking among repressive regimes during 2012. Equality is giving someone the same opportunity to make them equal. As we have earned in class, equality and justice is not the same thing. This concentration upon English language proved to have no utility in problem solving tasks the rural community face, according to the experiment which Scriber and Cole carried out (1981), instead only advantaging those wealthy urban students who would gain return from utilising such verbal explanation. Equality comes with progress and progress takes time. PDF | On Dec 15, 2017, Helen Deffner and others published The Issue of Gender - Womens Roles in Sierra Leones Civil War (1991-2002) | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate Sierra Leone is furthermore experiencing many challenges to gender equality unrelated to the outbreak of the Ebola virus. Information released online before January, 2021. We promote gender equality and women's empowerment across sectors by focusing on improving women's health, increasing their participation in governance at all levels through increasing the political, social and economic rights of women . "We are enormously optimistic about the Irish Government and the potential in Sierra Leone. The current Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa has infected 27,237 peoplealmost exclusively in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leoneof whom 11,158 died. Their lack of completion in education is likely to be encouraged if the benefits are not obtained due to an inadequate, unrelatable curriculum, which means the cycle of subsistence in agriculture keeps these rural communities in poverty. For each indicator, we calculate the 33rd and 66th percentiles of the distribution and, based on those two values, countries are classified as belonging to high performance, medium performance and low performance categories. He knows it is against the law but he enjoys knowledge so much, it confuses him. In penetrating and clear-eyed fashion, the authors re-analyze the four crucial cases that flirted with the possiblity of comparable worth." . In most countries women represent the majority of the poor. However, there was no one period in the past, even now, without inequality completely. The roles women are expected to play are general expectations such as cooking, cleaning, and staying at home with the children, leaving women in Sierra Leone with very . Firstly, the only way to decrease the educational gap between males and females is to implement policies that decrease or completely remove school fees for girls and prohibit families from removing their daughters from school before the age of 18. Gender equality and women's empowerment in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is central to the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 5, to Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls. Sierra Leone: 153 (0.644) 0.643 177 137 0.662 125 0.756 Mauritania: 150 (0.620) 0.643 The estimated levels of inequality for Sierra Leone in 1831 seem consistently lower than for all contemporary settler coloniesincluding Brazil and all estimates of wealth inequality from the United States of the early nineteenth century. The Sierra Leone Parliament is set to host the HeForShe National Secretariat and hosting further sensitization activities in the provinces. Too many girls and women are still dying in childhood and in the reproductive ages. There have been many problems with the SAPS including devaluation, where the value of local currency has been reduced in attempt to make exported goods more affordable but the knock on effect is that the prices of non-traded items are increased. ", Last updated on May 22, 2009 by Ariel Berger. Also, after schooling the number of women in the workforce has gone from 51.3 percent to 53 percent from 1996 to 2004 (MDGs Sierra Leone). As of February 2021, only 12.3% of seats in parliament were held by women. Sierra Leone is also a part of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (MDGs). As a result, these nations will achieve gender equality as both females and males will be equally qualified for jobs. 33% of men in Sierra Leone have reached at least a secondary education; only 20.1% of women will do the same. If your specific country is not listed, please select the UK version of the site, as this is best suited to international visitors. Childfree women felt like their value and identity were centered and focused on maternal status rather than the struggle they made for independence and the experience attained. By Abu Bakarr Benson, Youth & Girl Activist, Sierra Leone. The gender gap index is calculated by setting a benchmark of national gender gaps on economic, political, education- and health-based criteria, and is based on a . Women now make up over 40 percent of the global labour force. Republic of Sierra Leone: Education sector analysis: assessing the enabling environment for gender equality Corporate author : UNESCO IIEP Dakar. Doing well out of war. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! Gender inequality coupled with staunchly held, restrictive gender norms manifest itself in high levels of gender-based violence (GBV), which due to the weakened social structures . Addressing harmful practices are also covered by raising awareness on both the potential short and longer-term health consequences, human rights violations of FGM, and the negative impact that early marriage and teenage pregnancy can have on the lives of girls and their families. For the individual woman, poverty and gender inequality are key factors affecting demand for healthcare services. Not all people have the same talents or weaknesses, therefore, true equality is near impossible without limiting other people 's freedoms. Our society thrives off of each person being unique from everyone else, but still being treated equally. The dominance of ruling class families meant chiefs received little competition and their guaranteed role for life meant they were at liberty to act despotically (Jackson and Rosberg 1982:17-19). USAID is engaging a broad range of stakeholders to identify the various drivers of sexual and gender-based violence across different segments of the population around the country and will support local organizations in developing and piloting interventions designed to reduce its prevalence while maintaining cultural and social integrity. Awareness raising on relevant legislation involving gender based violence, support to access free legal counselling/representation, and access to medical care for the victims and survivors of gender-based violence are among the key activities. Particularly in Governments need to support these young women and fulfill their dreams. Only 93 percent of urban resident women, and 94 percent of urban resident men have active economic jobs that are paid (MDGs Sierra Leone). Nearly 60 per cent of people live below the poverty line and the effects of the pandemic are . Nevertheless, gender inequality and denial of womens rights are still prevalent at all levels in Sierra Leonean society even though the women for, Current activities also supported by UNFPA include community mobilisation/sensitisation and demand creation activities for family planning, reproductive health and fistula services. America exploits woman, while still not considering us equal. The country's government, with assistance from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), made efforts to improve education in Sierra Leone since then. This essay will explore aspects of poverty and inequality within Sierra Leone and the most important cultural and contemporary reasons that mean such large disparities and suffering still exist today. Stewart, F. (1998). . She further explained that Sierra Leone has a low gender inequality index value of 0.64 ranking. Gender Inequality In Sierra Leone. . If you are looking for current information, visit www.usaid.gov. Schools in Sierra Leone reopened in April 2015 after the world's worst recorded Ebola outbreak. In doing so, it has worked closely with communities andlocal agents of change, including religious leaders and faith-based organisations. Access the executive summary of the report here and read their full report here. For example in the healthcare system, drugs which were given as aid ended up in pharmacies to be sold for profit, rather than dispersed to those most in need for free, as organisations like UNICEF had intended. Though Sierra Leone global gender gap index fluctuated substantially in recent years, it tended to increase through 2018 - 2022 period ending at 0.67 index in 2022. 1982 Eastern Kentucky Football Roster, Articles G