Freetown, 6th April, 2018
The Women’s Situation Room-Sierra Leone Pays a Courtesy Call on
H.E President Julius Maada Bio
The Women’s Situation Room – Sierra Leone today, Friday 6th April 2018 paid a courtesy call on His Excellency the President, Brigadier (Retired) Julius Maada Bio at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Freetown.
The purpose of visit was to congratulate him on his election victory and to draw his attention to the recent incidents of post-election violence in some parts of the country which has the potential to reverse the gains we have achieved during this electoral process.
During the discussions, the women talked about post-elections reconciliation which they emphasised was a priority to ensure the country is healed; they reminded the President about the need for women to be involved in governance and called for the economic empowerment of women. The WSR-SL informed President Bio and his transition team that they intended to hold a national conference to evaluate the recently concluded elections to identify the successes, challenges and gaps to ensure an improved electoral process and management bodies for future elections.
President Bio thanked the women for their peace building efforts and commended them for being proactive throughout the electoral process. He was impressed with the flexibility of the WSR process which enabled them to respond to threats and incidents of violence in real time. He acknowledged that women make up a higher percentage of Sierra Leone’s population and pledged his government’s commitment to women and youth empowerment in accordance with his party’s manifesto.
Concluding, he informed the women that he and Dr. Samura Kamara have had telephone conversations and have agreed to meet and talk amidst applause from the WSR-SL women.
©WSR-SL Communications 2018
