A three-day high-level international Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Leadership Conference for 30 Gambian and 10 African-American teenage leaders opened Thursday at the conference hall of the Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (TANGO) in Fajara, Bakau.
Hosted by the United States-based Women Empowering Nations and its Gambian partner, Side By Side Organisation The Gambia, the conference will avail these prospective young leaders the opportunity to explore social change, economic justice, women's empowerment, and leadership. The young ladies will hear from a host of inspiring women leaders and build relationships beyond borders.
The Women Empowering Nations (WEN), founded by Carlisha Williams, is dedicated to the advancement of girls and women through self-esteem development, educational, and leadership outreach programmes. WEN's vision is to be a primary resource for inspiring, supporting and connecting female leaders so that they grow in a capacity to lead and serve.
Strengthening communities by educating and empowering women, the organisation firmly believes in the words spoken by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia that "if you educate a man, you educate a family and a village. To educate a woman, you empower a nation". Women Empowering Nations aims to improve self-esteem of young women while aiding them with resources to accomplish their goals and transform their communities.
Thus, its Gambia leadership conference will enable girls to understand the society they live in, identify and analyse solutions for social development, and build life skills for important choices in their daily lives. Representing the minister of Basic and Secondary Education at the conference, the director for Region 1, Anna Burong John Ceesay, commended WEN and its partner for this great initiative, which she noted is inline with the objectives of her Ministry. She welcomed the African-American participants, and urged them to make their stay a working holiday to enjoy the Gambian hospitality and its attractive features. Commenting on the issues at hand vis-à-vis women empowerment and education, John-Ceesay lamented that the vast majority of the world's women are poor with two-third of its illiterates being also females. In her view, women and girls are victims of social system that assigned them roles and responsibilities that reinforces exploitation, abuse and marginalisation. "Consequently, most women with enormous unexploited potential will bear most responsibilities of missing basic needs of the family, yet some are systematically blocked to access relevant information to make informed choice to fulfill these responsibilities due to fear of the consequences of empowerment," she stated.
The educationist observed that in most societies around the world, the combined devastating effects of poverty, discrimination and lack of equal opportunity affect women in multiple ways, ranging from economic standing to social wellbeing, to prospect of better living conditions and ability to secure employment or be self-employed. She further lamented that the vast majority of the world's women are poor while majority of the millions of school age children not in school are girls.
"In the African continent, women own less than 1% of African continent land mass. Women farmer receives only 1% of the total credits to agriculture and have fewer economic rights and lower access to economic opportunities including lands and credit facilities," she concluded.
The founder and executive director of the Women Empowering Nations, Carlisha Williams, informed that her organisation that was established five years ago, began as a vision and a dream to see women - African-American and African women and girls connect with one another beyond borders and cultural barriers. She underscored that the objective is to build relationships and grow to know one another and lead and change this world.
"Today, it's truly a dream come true. I'm so proud as I look out into this room; into many different faces; many different experiences and life journey that bring us to this point today. This week will be challenging, we will build relationship and get to know ourselves and also the things that we face in our communities," she said.
The WEN boss acknowledged the partnership and the great contribution made by their Gambian partner, Side By Side Organisation, while expressing her utmost delight over Gambian hospitality. Marie Williams, a board member of WEN, reiterated the US-based organisation's position in working to promote self-esteem, leadership and educational achievements. "We work with women to mentor in programmes in the United States and conference to connect women leaders," she highlighted, while thanking the participants for coming.
The US advocate told the teenage leaders that each of them has a potential to change the world, and encouraged them to remain steadfast.
A member of the Side By Side Organisation The Gambia board of trustees, Bakary Badjie, who is also a programme officer at the Child Protection Alliance, said SBSO is very grateful to be part of this initiative, which he said is inline with the objectives of empowering young people both boys and girls.
Initiatives like women empowerment that focuses on building capacity and also trying to bring young people together and empower them, according to him, is one of the key issues they have been doing for the past few years. "So it is great that Women Empowering Nations has thought it wise to be able to seek partnership with Side By Side Organisation The Gambia and we have agreed to serve as their host in The Gambia for this important forum," he stated.
Highlighting the achievements of Side By Side, Badjie informed that they have rendered uninterrupted community service for the past eight years premised on the conviction that through such programmes that they can strengthen the institutions. He added that they have and continue to help young people to be responsible in their communities, while noting that their focus of intervention has been on areas such as education, environment, reproductive health and other empowerment initiatives, amongst others.
The national coordinator of Side By Side Organisation The Gambia, Hatab Fadera, also an editor with the Daily Observer, in his welcoming remarks, said Women Empowering Nations is a non-profitable organisation dedicated to women empowerment, self-esteem development, educational and leadership outreach programmes. He disclosed that WEN was founded by an American-born, Carlisha Williams, who is a growing social entrepreneur committed to empowerment, civic engagement and women's empowerment.
He informed that Carlisha Williams began her work in The Gambia where she frequently travels to facilitate girls empowerment workshops, mentor teenage girls and provide students with needed supplies and materials to promote higher learning. Her work in The Gambia, he further stated, led to her appointment as the United States Goodwill Ambassador to the Republic of The Gambia.
Fadera expressed his organisation's delight to be associated with this important event, pointing out that WEN and SBSO are two organisations that share common objectives on girls and women empowerment.
Meanwhile, the climax of the event will be an award ceremony at the Jamaa Hall of the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi on Saturday, 8th June, 2013. It will witness the conferment of awards to 40 Gambian and African-American teenage leaders, as well as the presentation of the 2013 Legacy Empowerment Award that was first conferred in The Gambia on the vice president and minister of Women's Affairs, Her Excellency Aja Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy.