LEY DE GESTIÓN AMBIENTAL

The development and transformation of Sierra Leone require accelerated progress to close gender disparities. This requires political commitment from the highest levels, as a national priority, to mainstream gender in legal reforms, property rights, business support for female entrepreneurship, and   equitable  access  to  economic  resources.  The  country’s   equitable  and  sustainable  development requires gender responsive economic financial policies and budgets.

The new era of transition to development coupled with peaceful elections has created opportunities to advance  women’s  rights  and  equity.  The  establishment  of  the  Human  Rights  Commission has set the stage for access to equity. Women are benefitting to some extent in accessing their rights. Civil Society has also picked up momentum due to a conducive environment that allows it to provide complementary support with the Government to a collective  response  to  women’s  rights  and  equity. The  Government  is  committed  to  supporting  gender  equality  and  women’s  empowerment.  Its  strategy   is a two-tiered approach: as a separate priority Gender Pillar, and mainstreaming gender across all Pillars of the AfP. The Gender Pillar includes strategic priorities for the next five years in the key thematic areas of governance and leadership, reducing violence against women, education of women and girls and economic empowerment of women and girls.

Overall Objectives and Strategies

The  overall  goal  is  “Empowering  women  and  girls  through  education,  participation  in  decision-making, and access to equal justice and economic opportunities by 2018.The programme will focus on four thematic areas with the following objectives

:

 To   increase   women’s   participation   and   representation   in   decision-making in public, private, and traditional institutions.

 To reduce socio-economic barriers in education, and provide support for formal and non- formal institutions.

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 To improve and make conducive the business environment for women, through greater access to finance and capacity development

Increased  women’s  participation  in  decision  making  in  public,  private, and traditional

institutions.

The key interventions are:

 Committing to gender equality through enactment of Gender Equality Bill.

 Adoption and implementation of national gender policy and national gender strategic action plans, including a national referral protocol.

 Implementation of the national strategy for reducing teenage pregnancy.

 Strengthening   capacities   for   women’s   real   representation   and   participation   in   security   and   private sectors, including economic governance.

 Implement community level   as   well   as   national   level   women’s   leadership   programmes   to   encourage  women’s  participation  in  politics  and  governance  at  all  levels.

 Establishment  of  National  Women’s  Commission  as  part  of  strengthening  the  national  gender   machinery.

 Strengthen the Gender Directorate of the MSWGCA with resources and capacity and clarify its role in the gender machinery.

 Strengthening of coordination across the MDAs, creating linkages with NGOs to address women’s   rights;;   Formalise   gender   as   a   cross-cutting issue in all MDAs, and appoint senior cadre as gender focal points;

 Establishing a monitoring and evaluation system for tracking gender equality, and promoting sex-disaggregated data collection.

 Committing to increase the budget for gender machinery and MDAs to address gender equality, taking into account commitments by development partners and the private sector.  Strengthening   women’s   participation   in   the   institution   of   chieftaincy:   Conduct   a   gender-

sensitive review of the 2009 Chieftaincy Act, to expunge discrimination based on lineage and gender, and traditional practices that bar women from becoming chiefs.

 Mandate   women’s   engagement   and   involvement   in   constitutional   reform   process.   Amend   discriminatory provisions in the constitution.

Strengthen prevention and response mechanisms to violence against women and

girls.

The key interventions are:

 To increase prevention and response mechanisms to ensure violence against women and girls is reduced by at least 5% and response increased by at least 10%.

 Implement gender justice laws and strengthen access to legal protection for women and girls, in partnership with non-governmental organizations and development partners.

 Enhance knowledge and skills of the judiciary and the security forces to respond to VAWG.  Programmes will be initiated to ensure that community-level prevention and response agents,

particularly men, boys, school heads, and traditional/cultural and religious leaders, have a better understanding of and attitudes towards VAWG and its implications, and respond adequately to VAWG.

 Roll out the National Action Plan on GBV and strengthen GBV referral protocol linkages.  Enactment of law against underage initiation rites of passage for girls; reduce underage

initiation rites of passage of children as commitment to Universal Periodic Review.

 Strengthen accountability for gender equality through monitoring and reporting on international and national instruments, with CSO engagement.

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Improve conducive business environment for women, through greater access to

finance and capacity development

The key interventions are:

 Promote  women’s  economic  empowerment  through  establishment  of  women’s  empowerment   fund, expanded business training programmes, strengthening other sources of finance, and support for regional and national business associations.

 Access to new and renewable energy for women to increase the number of women adopting clean cooking fuel and household energy; support existing initiatives such as the Bare Foot Women Solar Energy College. A plant will be established for production and training on energy-saving stoves.

 Policies, regulations and practices will be reviewed and adopted to address gender barriers to business development and growth for women entrepreneurs.

 Development of financial literacy training modules for training women entrepreneurs, including training  for  various  sources  of  finance  (Women’s  Fund,  micro-credit, cooperatives).

 Promote social corporate responsibility through public-private partnership to enhance women’s  access  to  finance  and  capacity  building.

 Promote learning and best practices though regional integration for women-led businesses.

Reduce socio economic barriers in education and provide support for formal and non-

formal institutions

The key interventions are:

 Extension of free tuition for girls from Primary through Junior Secondary School for the next five years.

 Reduce barriers for girls to complete secondary school, and improve access to higher education and lifelong learning.

 Establish a leadership academy; promote transformative leadership for young women through mentorship.

 Establish an affirmative action policy in the education sector, to facilitate female entry to non- traditional sectors, including scientific and technological professions and vocations.

 Establish special provisions for pregnant girls to continue education.

 Expand career and guidance counselling; ensure safe spaces in schools for discussing sensitive issues and confidence-building.

 Strengthen gender institutions in education, including coordination between education and national gender machinery

 Review the strategy for access to higher education for mature students with the intention of getting more women into senior positions.

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Part 4: Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation

The implementation of the Agenda for Prosperity is the responsibility of all Sierra Leoneans. Implementation will be done by all organs of Government; Central Government, legislature, judiciary, Local Councils, Civil Society Organisations,, media and the Private Sector. Government, through line Ministries, National Commissions and other agencies that have statutory mandates for formulating policies and programmes, will lead the implementation process. Each MDA will ensure that their respective sectoral policies and thematic areas are implemented based on agreed guidelines.

At the local level and in line with the devolution process, local Government agencies_ councils, chiefdom and wards will lead the implementation of programmes and projects within their respective functions and localities. The civil society and non-governmental organisations will provide effective partnership.

A key lesson learnt in the implementation of the Agenda for Change was the weak coordination amongst MDAs. Therefore, going forward, the role of the Sector/Thematic Coordinating Committees and Presidential Task Forces will be legitimised. At, the technical level, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development will continue to play a central coordinating role relative to programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and resource mobilisation. The Office of the President will also continue play a pivotal role in these aspects. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will be transformed to focus on economic diplomacy with a view to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations for trade, investment and finance. MOFED will therefore lead the coordination of all dialogue between Government and development partners, in collaboration with line ministries.