By Alieu Amara Suwu
The Sierra Leone Parliamentary Female Caucus is set to celebrate Orange Day, a celebration to commemorate International Women’s Day 2024.
During a press conference organised at Committee Room One in Parliament, the President of the Female Caucus in the Sierra Leone Parliament, Hon. Neneh Lebbie, said the Parliament of Sierra Leone, in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and PETRO JETTY, is pleased to announce the upcoming Orange Day event to commemorate International Women’s Day 2024.
She said the event will be held on March 14, 2024, at the State Hall of the Parliament of Sierra Leone.
Giving the purpose of the commemoration, Hon. Neneh Lebbie said the event aims to create a platform for the Parliamentary Female Caucus to engage with citizens and stakeholders, showcasing its commitment to transforming into a viable and result-oriented organization of female legislators.
She said the event will highlight the achievements and aspirations of the female Caucus and seek alignment with the development goals of the Parliament of Sierra Leone.
According to Hon. Neneh Lebbie, the Caucus is currently going through a transformative process and will utilize this event to bring to the fore some of its aspirations and actions already taken forward to enhance its visibility and provide evidence to demonstrate relevance for its increased representation in Parliament. She adds that the event is also an opportunity for the parliamentary leadership to align itself with the development aspirations of the female Caucus and commit to being part of the gains made through the enactment of gender transformative laws by the Parliament of Sierra Leone.
In her welcome address, the President of the Female Caucus of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay, thanked all for their support and wished that Orange Day would be successful.
A representative from the Country Director of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, Rev. Alusine Desmond Suma, said the event is significant and thus geared towards raising awareness to end violence against women.
He said female MPs have a crucial way to advocate for women’s empowerment.
He stood in solidarity with female MPs for the promotion of gender empowerment as well as to strengthen the fight to end violence against women.
In her statement, the Manager/Human Resource Petro Jetty, Fahmeeda Rahman, said the jetty is an affiliate of Petrol dealers.
She committed that the office is ready to collaborate with the Caucus and to partner with them in this year’s celebration of Orange Day.
Director of DePREP, Gilbert Nabbay, said it is indeed delightful to partner with the female caucus.
He said the story in Sierra Leone is worth commending, adding that, in terms of representation, Sierra Leone is above regional numbers.
He said his department will continue to support the female caucus for the caucus to move a private member bill to ensure that they work in separate from parliamentary support.
He confirmed that the UN Women and other organizations have agreed to support the female caucus and also expressed his determination to support the caucus.
