This is our Time! Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Honored at African Gender Award Ceremony

Posted by unw.waro in 20. Jun, 2011, under Parity Conference

Dakar, Senegal – June 21, 2010

In a most memorable evening with more than 500 guests in attendance chanting and singing along to This is our time, led by Liberian songstress Miatta Fahnbullen, the 2011 African Gender Forum and Award (AFGA) was presented to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and her country on Friday, June 17 by the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, alonside Senegal’s Minister of Gender, Awa Ndiaye; the Chairwoman of the Selecting Committee of AGFA, Gertrude Mongella; and the Executive Director of Femmes Africa Solidarity (co-0rganizer of the event), Ms. Binta Diop.

The African Gender Award recognizes heads of state for their excellence in promoting gender mainstreaming in their countries. The 2011 award was presented to President Johnson-Sirleaf for her commitment to gender equality by increasing the presence of women in politics and the judiciary, mandating free education for children, and setting up the Women Market Fund, in addition to implementing international conventions for the protection of women’s rights in Liberia, such as SCR 1325 of the UN Security Council.

In awarding the prize, PAC recognizes the progress that President Johnson-Sirleaf has made in promoting women’s empowerment. In 2005, Ms. Ellen Johson-Sirleaf created the Trust Fund for Education in Liberia and launched a program of scholarships for women and girls to enable them to pursue secondary and post-secondary education. That same year, the Liberian government took measures to prohibit the trafficking of women and girls through the Anti-Human Trafficking Act of 2005, followed by the creation of the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, which was responsible for the development and the implementation of the National Plan to end human trafficking.

In 2006, the government of Liberia launched the Law on Education, the National Girls’ Education Policy, and, a year later, the Free and Compulsory Primary Education Policy. In 2007, the Secretariat of Gender-Based Violence in Liberia created a National Action Plan. Liberia also ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Ms. Mongella stated: “In political power, there is no invitation card. You have to invite yourself to the table.” She then called on women to, “get into decision-making positions to cause change, not just to occupy seats.”

In his remarks, President Abdoulaye Wade acknowledged that the African Gender Award was more than a symbol, but the consecration, the crowning of a work (“Plus qu’un symbole, le prix, c’est la consecration, coronation de tout un oeuvre.”) President Wade stated that it was not only an award given to a great woman, but to someone who has struggled for democracy. Of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Wade stated: “She took weapons and replaced them with computers.”

In her acceptance speech, President Johnson-Sirleaf expressed how honored she was to follow three great African leaders who have received this prize. She also praised Liberian women who have struggled for rights. Additionally, President Johnson-Sirleaf spoke of her plans to enhance the lives of women. To date, 15% of the security forces in Liberia are women. The country’s development plan has strived to make working conditions better for women and to give them access to land and credit. Thanks to these programs, she says, “women of Liberia are now fully empowered.”

The First African Gender Award was given in 2005 and jointly awarded to Presidents Abdoulaye Wade of Senegaland Thabo Mbeki of South Africafor their contributions in favor of the adoption of the Parity Principle in the African Union. In 2007, the Award was given to President Kagame of Rwanda for his important accomplishments in mainstreaming gender in development programs and policies in his country; and in 2009, it was given to President Armando Emilio Guebuza of Mozambique for his engagement in the promotion of equity and gender equality in sustainable development and integrating women in national politics and decision-making positions.

Tags: featured