By Sarjo M Camara
reporting from New York
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Hon. Fatou Kinteh has led a Gambian delegation to New York, United States of America to participate in the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, from 10 to 21 March 2025.
The Minister delivered a statement at the ‘Ministerial Round Table meeting under the theme, ‘National mechanism for gender equality and empowerment of women and girls: Recommending resources and accelerating implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action with a view to contributing to the achievement of SDGs’.
In her address, Hon. Fatou Kinteh reiterated The Gambia Government’s commitment to the attainment of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls, which, she said, is demonstrated by the establishment of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare in 2019, with the mandate to coordinate the implementation of policy and legal framework to promote gender equality and empowerment of women.
She said The Gambia is resolute on the promise of delivering the commitment of the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action and provide the required Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women. Since 1980, the Gambia has established several institutional mechanisms to advance the status of women and promote gender equality.
She went on to highlight the progress the country made in its quest for gender equality and promotion of women’s rights. She mentioned the National Women Council, established by Act of parliament in 1980, and consists of women representatives from all districts in the country; the development and implementation of the national gender policies; such as the National Policy for the Advancement of Women and Girls 1999-2009, National Gender and Women Empowerment Policy 2010-2020 and the Gender Policy 2025-2034.
These policies, the minister highlighted, provide a framework for addressing gender inequalities and promoting women’s rights.
She also mentioned the designation of gender focal points in line ministries; setting up of parliamentary caucus on women; as well as gender equality laws and legal reforms encompassing equal opportunities in the work place, prohibition of sexual discrimination and sexual harassment, and the introduction of punishment for violence against women.
At global and regional levels, Madam Kinteh informed that The Gambia has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the African Union’s Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.
She stressed that efforts have been made to mainstream gender in national development plans and policies, ensuring that gender perspectives are integrated into all aspects of development planning and implementation.
Hon. Kinteh revealed that since 2019, the ministry took steps in building capacities of the staff, as well as focal points and senior managers in line ministries on specific technical methods, such as gender based analysis, gender impact assessment, and gender sensitive budgeting, all essential to gender mainstreaming.
“The ministry also took initiatives to improve data collection through the establishment of the Gender Management Information System; The Gambia National machineries launched national campaigns to raise public awareness about issues related to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Increasingly, national machineries are using websites to provide information and engage in dialogues with civil society.” She noted
The Gender, Children and Social Welfare minister recognised that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been a powerful instrument, which has facilitated reform of laws and policies in many countries.
