Washington, DC — Representatives of the Fifty Fifty Group, a women's activism organization in Sierra Leone, have been visiting Washington, DC, to receive an award for their work to increase women's representation in government.
In this interview, Nemata Eshun-Baiden, Abator Thomas, Hadija Mariama Fofana, and Harriet Turay told AllAfrica's Katy Gabel and intern Courtney Hess they were "amazed and proud" to receive the award, but that they will not be satisfied until women are represented equally and can work side by side with men. And, they predict, the country will elect a woman as head of state in 2012. Excerpts:
What inspires your work?
Nemata Eshun-Baiden: Sierra Leone is one of the African countries that is beset by many problems. We had a war recently. The women took part in bringing peace and we women want to take part in managing the peace.
Hadija Mariama Fofana: We have worked so hard to bring the women of Sierra Leone together, not just the educated and elite, but the grassroots women as well. When the Fifty Fifty Group was first started, it was seen as an elitist group, but we have been able to reach down to the market women - to the women in the village. We have been able to bring them together to help them get a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.
Why are you calling for a legal quota for women's legal representation?
Eshun-Baiden: The [previous] proportional representation system was a more gender-friendly electoral system. Even though they introduced what we consider to be a very gender unfriendly constituency-based system, we women have been able to get at least 16 women in parliament. We are not satisfied. We would like to have first 30 percent and later 50 percent of our women in parliament and we are determined to get it. We have asked the Constitutional Review Commission to give us a 30 percent quota which is in all of the international demands, mandates, all of the conventions.
Fofana: Although we are pushing for changes in the laws of Sierra Leone, we also believe that our role should not stop there. We should also change the mindset of people because we find that some of the unwritten laws, culture, etc., act as barriers to women's political participation. We are engaging with men and women to change gender perceptions, to change gender roles and responsibilities in our society. We believe that is the only way that we can forge ahead in our development.
What impact have you made?
Harriet Turay: As a women's organization, we have… [changed] the politics of Sierra Leone because we have put women in positions of decision-making. Even in the recently-concluded elections, we did not drop our number of members of parliament in spite of the fact that we changed the election system from proportional representation to the constituency. This means that at the least, women have been thoroughly sensitized to ensure that they come out for the politics of the country.
I am happy about what is happening currently because [our president] has said that his government would look into the recommendations of the TRC [the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.] Those recommendations stated that there should be a 30 percent quota [for] representation of women in positions of decision-making.
What challenges did you face when Fifty Fifty started?
Abator Thomas: When the Fifty Fifty Group was formed, we were misrepresented; we were misunderstood. In fact, people felt that what we wanted was to challenge the men in every sphere. It took us some time, but eventually we got them to understand that we are not here to challenge men, but we are here to make sure that women get their rightful place in society.
Considering we have 52 percent of the population, we think that women should be represented in various spheres of life. We also feel that women are better suited for certain work like health, education, and of course gender and children's affairs. So we are advocates that women should be put in these positions.
What cultural challenges did you face?
Turay: We have engaged the paramount chiefs in some of our seminars so that they can understand what it is all about. It is not challenging their authority, it is just making it easier for women to participate and through participation of women they will be able to develop their areas better.
If you are going to do a maternity clinic, for instance, in a village and all the people on the committee are men then there are certain aspects of it that they will not be able to understand. But if a woman is on that committee, she will look at it from the feminine aspect and she will give her own input. So we are encouraging them to… include women [for] balanced representation.
Fofana: It is not easy to give up power. The men have been in power for so long that they do not want to share their position and everything that goes with it with women.
What has newly-elected President Ernest Bai Koroma done to improve women's representation in government?
Eshun-Baiden: His cabinet is nothing to be delighted about as far as women are concerned. He has only given three seats to women, which is not an improvement. But we hope we will have more deputy-ministers as women and positions such as ambassadors' [posts] are other possibilities.
We are working very hard to produce a talent database of professional women who could be used for these positions. It has always been a boys' network, cronyism and all that. If we can produce a database of women who would be eligible for these people we think it could make a difference.
Do you ever have difficulty recruiting other women to your cause?
Eshun-Baiden: In terms of the women we are trying to empower… there is insufficient education. The majority of the women are illiterate. We have to do our best to educate them. Even though the local government act stipulates that women don't need to be able to read or write to become members of wards committees, we are not satisfied that the women will perform well if they are not at least literate.
Sometimes we have people whom we call "career blockers." Many of the family members will start telling you, "What are you doing? You are a woman. Do you want to go stand in elections? It is a man's game. It is a dirty game."
Thomas: One of the biggest challenges we have is to get women to support other women. A lot of women don't think they should support other women… even in voting. They will not even listen to a woman talking, they would prefer to support a man. They don't understand that women can do things, they can take part in development. Women can be the head of a big organization. To quote [former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine] Albright… I believe she has said "there is a special place in hell for women who don't support women."
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Some critics say quotas are discriminatory or insulting?
Eshun-Baiden: Let me send a message to the women who think it is stupid to ask for a… quota. Many countries around the world have tried training, awareness-raising, all of the other things we are trying. [But] all of the 21 countries in the world with over 30 percent representation in parliament have had to use a quota. Rwanda has 48 percent representation. If you look at the constitution it is because they gave them a quota.
Fofana: We are asking for 30 percent representation… not just because we want women there, but because we believe that women can make a difference. You cannot continue to marginalize 52 percent of your population. You are… losing the brains of people you need to push forward your development.
Liberia recently elected the first democratically-elected female head of state in Africa - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Do you see a woman president in Sierra Leone's future?
Turay: I believe that Sierra Leonean women have been far ahead of Liberian women. Women in Sierra Leone have become mayors, they have been paramount chiefs. Because of this we feel that we are more mature politically as women… In fact, for the [recent] elections, we had two women who were keenly interested in becoming running mates in the presidential elections. It is unfortunate that they did not have a ticket from their political parties. Those women would have made us proud as either vice-president or president. So we are working towards that. We keep saying 2012 – that is our target.
Eshun-Baiden: In 2012 we will have a woman as head of state. We are getting there.
