Madam Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang, former Gambian Vice President and head of the ECOWAS, African Union, and Commonwealth Secretariat Facilitation Mission, has stressed the need for women’s economic empowerment as key to peace and security in Sierra Leone and beyond. Speaking at the Open Day on Gender, Women, Youth, Peace, and Security at Bintumani Hotel, Freetown, she called for integrating women’s economic empowerment into national budgets to achieve sustainable peace.
Tambajang highlighted the gap between economic growth and human development in Africa, attributing this to the exclusion of women from decision-making. She urged governments to prioritize women in economic planning, advocating for support from global institutions like the World Bank. Drawing from her experience in peacebuilding, particularly in Liberia, she emphasized that women, often the primary victims of conflict, should be better represented in peace processes and leadership roles.
Referring to the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, she called for aligning international frameworks with national constitutions to ensure gender equality in power structures. Tambajang coined the term “feminized poverty,” explaining that women’s exclusion from economic opportunities is a major barrier to development. She advocated for data-driven policies that promote women’s empowerment and called for collaborative efforts to achieve gender equality.
Harouna Moussa, ECOWAS Resident Representative to Sierra Leone, also addressed regional challenges like terrorism, youth unemployment, and climate change, highlighting ECOWAS Vision 2050 and its focus on peace, security, and development. The event aimed to assess progress on the UN’s Women, Peace, and Security agenda, gathering leaders to discuss advancing gender-based peace initiatives across West Africa.
