By Kumba Leigh
Women Journalists Association of The Gambia (WoJAG), on Thursday, October 31st launched a $15,000 Project, funded by the U.S Embassy in The Gambia. The theme of the project is, ‘Empower her voice: building capacities for change and encourage media engagement on women’s rights issues’. Speaking at the launch ceremony, at Paradise Suites Hotel, Sharon Cromer, US Ambassador to The Gambia, reaffirmed the need to involve women and protect them at all cost, stressing that there is no limit to what women can accomplish.
She said women around the globe and in The Gambia are hindered from accomplishing their goals and reaching their potentials. She added that women are underrepresented in the media, their voices are muted, and less likely to be featured in news stories or be experts in some fields in most cases, “because the gender imbalance in the media perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes, and telling the stories from the female perspective”. Madam Sharon Cromer further observed that female journalists are too often the targets in terms of sexual harassments, threats, and violence, yet the women journalists in The Gambia persevere.
This, she said, is the rationale behind their support to WoJAG. The Ambassador stressed that empowerment of women and girls is a top priority for the US Government through the US Embassy in The Gambia. She said they have taken significant steps to highlight the rights of women and girls, and this underscored their dedication to creating the enabling environment, and to amplify voices of vulnerable women and girls, and for them to live in an environment free from fear of violence and discrimination. The Ambassador further posited that women and girls are not only backbone of their families, but also the driving force for positive change in their communities, noting that their strength, resilience, and dedication are exceptional.
Bakary Y. Badjie, Minister of Youths and Sports, underscored the need to empower women through concerted efforts to end cases of gender based violence in homes and communities. Vice President, Gambia Press Union, Aisha Keita, submitted that the ‘Empower her voices’ project not only aims to promote voices of women journalists, but also expose stories that promote injustice, harmful traditional practices, and fight for the rights of vulnerable women and girls; stressing that women voices in the media are essential to building a fairer, stronger, and a more useful society.
Fatou Jagne Senghore, Human Rights Activist, in her keynote address, highlighted the role of media in protecting human rights; noting that media’s role in a democratic society could help sound public opinion and expose violations against human rights, advance women’s rights. For her part, President of Women Journalists Association of The Gambia, Annette Camara, thanked the US Embassy for the fund, and noted the timeliness of the project.
