Carol Hannan, Irish Aid
The Head of Development in the Embassy of Ireland in Freetown, Carol Hannon, has strongly highlighted the importance of Sierra Leonean women supporting one another. Women, she said, can achieve so much more in solidarity with each other than they can achieve alone.
“The Networks (Women In Governance Networks) are so important, the support you have given each other and across the generations, and the mentoring is very important. I think increasing that mentoring and support going forward will be essential,” she said.
Hannon, who is responsible for the Irish Aid Development Cooperation Program, further noted that women’s empowerment is a public good and must be prioritised.
“Women’s empowerment is a public good. It is not just about what is good for women, it is about what is good for society and the country as a whole. And I think we need to keep getting that message out. Empowering women is also about empowering men, it is about empowering everyone,” she noted.
Hannon was speaking during an interactive meeting between project principals and the Embassy of Ireland organised by SEND SL at the Nyapui School of Excellence Hall, Combema community, in Kenema, Eastern Sierra Leone recently. She maintains that inclusion doesn’t just stop with women but extends to everyone. She encouraged everyone to make sure that the commitments that have been made and the Sustainable Development Goals to leaving no one behind, to reaching the furthest behind first, become a reality.
“So as we fight for women’s empowerment, we also should fight for the empowerment of other disadvantaged groups, like people living with disability, people in extreme poverty, and other marginalized groups. In everything that we do, we should let the measure of our success not be what we achieve ourselves but what we support others to achieve,” she said.
Hannon further stated that women and girls are essential to the development of Sierra Leone, indicating that women’s gender equality and women’s empowerment is not only a right, but is also essential to economic growth, human rights, and making society better for everybody. Thus the need to put women and girls at the centre of all development cooperation programs is key, she said.
“There is a long road to get complete gender equality, to get women’s empowerment but I think we’re going in the right direction. And we’ve seen this in the last elections and hopefully, we will see this in the next elections. And what I can see is that there are some very strong women in Sierra Leone who have an amazing lot to offer. So we really need to be providing the opportunity for them to show what they have to offer and to really contribute to the country’s development,” she noted.
Hannon said it is part of their support to SEND SL as the organisation supports women’s political participation and the empowerment of women and girls through the networks that they have across the country.
“I think we’ve seen today that there’s huge enthusiasm from women and young women especially, to be part of the decision-making in Sierra Leone, so we really need to tap into all of that energy and use it to make Sierra Leone better for everybody. And that is why we’re here supporting SEND SL. There are big challenges to women participating in politics and taking up leadership positions and we’ve heard some of the challenges, but we really need to overcome those and we need to set a scene where everyone can fully participate in the decisions around Sierra Leone’s development and its future going forward,” Hannon said.
She thanked SEND SL for inviting them as partners to participate in the engagement of women and congratulated Country Director Joseph Ayamga SEND-SL and his team for the work that they have been doing in promoting women’s rights and gender equality in Sierra Leone, especially in remote communities.
