Page 40 - UN Gambia 2020 CCA stakeholder consultations report

From civil society, Ms. Tabu Sarr noted that though a huge opportunity to improve the governance landscape was lost in the

rejection of the Draft Constitution, particularly when it comes to women’s empowerment, the Ministry of Justice should explore avenues

to introduce progressive clauses into existing legislation.

B. Women’s participation

• UNDP Resident Representative Ms. De and UNFPA Country Representative, Mr. Adeniyi, both stressed the importance of capitalizing on the
ongoing reform processes to ensure guaranteed participation of women and youth.
• Ms. De noted that so long as there are no binding measures in this area, women and youth will continue to struggle to find space and
meaningfully participate in the governance matters. She noted specifically on the need for electoral processes to be more gender-friendly in
terms of access to electoral positions and claimed that the Independent Electoral Committee must be central in advocating for these changes.
Overall, Ms. De highlighted the historic opportunity for The Gambia to ensure meaningful participation of women and youth during this
transitional period.
• Adding to the discussion, Mr. Adeniyi noted that the factors that hinder the participation of women and young people in political and
community decision making processes are structural and multifaceted. He sighed at the failure of the Draft Constitution to have passed, noted
that it had several progressive provisions in this area, and asked whether similar provisions could not be captured in other legislation or policies.
• Mr. Marenah informed participants that unfortunately, guarantees of minimum women participation were included in the Election Bill but
most political parties that attended a validation workshop of this bill rejected the notion.
• At this venture both Ms. De and Mr. Adeniyi implored on the Government, National Assembly, and civil society to find means to engage in
intensive advocacy on this matter going forward. Otherwise, a historic opportunity to close the gender inequality gap would be missed.
• Mr. Badjie from civil society also stressed the importance of the decentralization of government as an effective strategy in ensuring women’s
participation in all levels of governance, reminding participants that though policy is formulated in Banjul and the Kombos, they are
implemented in the regions and communities. He also explained that ActionAid has for several years been advocating for female district
tribunal judges, especially for cases of gender-based violence.

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