Sierra Leone gender activists on Monday bemoaned the low representation of women in the country’s parliament after recent general elections, saying it has steadily decreased.
“The blame should be laid on the doorstep of political parties,” said gender activist Caroline Smart, adding that they had not come through on promises to see a 30 percent quota for women in parliament.
Bernadette Lahai is the newly elected parliamentary leader of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party and the only woman to ever hold the post.
She noted that in 2002, the 124-seat parliament had 19 women lawmakers. This dropped to 17 in 2007 and at the moment, there are only 15.
Read more at CapitalFM, published 18 December 2012.
Sierra Leone gender activists on Monday bemoaned the low representation of women in the country’s parliament after recent general elections, saying it has steadily decreased.
“The blame should be laid on the doorstep of political parties,” said gender activist Caroline Smart, adding that they had not come through on promises to see a 30 percent quota for women in parliament.
Bernadette Lahai is the newly elected parliamentary leader of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party and the only woman to ever hold the post.
She noted that in 2002, the 124-seat parliament had 19 women lawmakers. This dropped to 17 in 2007 and at the moment, there are only 15.
Read more at CapitalFM, published 18 December 2012.