Governor Samba Bah of Upper River Region (URR) has promised more political commitment to ending Female Genital Mutilation, particularly in his region.
Governor Bah made this disclosure on Wednesday during a press conference briefly after the launching of a cross-border project to end Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence in The Gambia and Senegal.
The project is themed ‘Accelerating the Prevention and Elimination of Gender-based Violence and the Promotion of Reproductive Health’.
“As far as my office is concerned, I have to stand up and make it clear so that we end gender-based violence together,” he declared, saying: “There is no country that can end gender-based violence without collective collaboration. All of us need to collaborate and put our hands on deck.”
He added: “We all know that when a project comes, people are always fascinated with it, but the implementation of the project counts a lot. And as a result, as far as my office is concerned as the governor of Upper River Region, we have been working with them and will continue to work with them in making sure that the implementation of this project is successful in the region, and it bears fruit for the people that we are serving, because the project is not meant for us. The project is meant for the people that we are serving.”
Governor Bah said his office and the entire region would cooperate to ensure the successful implementation of the project.
In his deliberation, Kajali Sonko, the deputy permanent secretary at the Gender and Social Welfare Ministry, said that although they understand that women are most affected by gender-based violence, the male counterparts are not excluded.
He said the project plan is to engage women first, but there is a specific component for boys and men among the beneficiaries.
“Boys turn to be men. So you catch them young when they are boys. There is an association that focuses on that . . . . Male involvement is very critical in this project. They are not going to be left behind,” he indicated.
Fallou Sowe, gender-based violence national coordinator, conveyed words of gratitude to the Italian Corporation and UNFPA for initiating the project.
“We all know that when you talk of sexual and reproductive health, you cannot forget about gender-based violence, and harmful traditional practices, such as FGM and child marriage,” he said.
“This project is here to address those issues. It’s a partnership project between The Gambia and Senegal. And this shows how these two countries are interwoven.
“We cannot address issues of sexual and reproductive health only in The Gambia in isolation of Senegal. I think this is where this project has come in.”
He vowed to work closely with civil society organisations and the partners (UNFPA and Italian Corporation) to ensure robust implementation.
