By: Fatoumatta Baldeh
A new report has found out that Women participation as candidates in electoral cycle is limited, while encouraging the National Assembly to have a quota system in both the national assembly and the local government councils.
The report was presented by Election Watch Committee (EWC) and partners following the recent unveiling of the 2023 local government elections observation recently held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
According to the report over the years, women’s political participation in the Gambia has been limited due to many factors including cultural, social, and economic barriers.
“Women’s participation, particularly as candidates in the electoral cycle of the country is very limited. According to EWC’s councilor election report, out of the 367 aspirants that submitted their nominations, there were only 58 women aspirants. The EWC noted a low number of female candidates as only 16% were women. In the mayoral and chairperson election, out of 32 aspirants only 2 were women, representing only 62% of the candidates that contested. The IEC report indicated that only 1 (Banjul) out of 8 positions were won by woman,” the report highlighted.
The report pointed out that from the 2021 IEC voter register, women form about 57 percent of the general voter population making them the largest group that participates in electing candidates, adding in all EWC observation, women’s participation has been a priority observation area for EWC.
“There has been a gradual increase in women’s participation in politics, particularly in recent years. This has been the result of various factors including the efforts of women’s right organization, increased awareness of women’s rights and the adoption of policies that promote gender equality,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, the EWC findings praised the IEC for doing an impressive job during both the councilor and mayoral & chairpersons’ elections in achieving gender balance in the IEC polling staff recruitment. In all the polling streams the EWC observed, there were at least two women serving as polling officers.
Upon completion of the EWC observation, EWC made series of recommendations to various election stakeholders on issues aimed at making The Gambia election processes more peaceful, transparent, inclusive and credible thereby boosting citizen’s confidence in the election system.
Amongst the recommendations EWC encouraged to recruit more women and persons with disability as election officials and presiding officers in polling stations. The EWC also encourage party supporters to stop spreading false information, hate speech and violent actions at campaign events, radios and on social media, ensure that party agents are trained on election procedures and understand their role in observing the voting and counting process.
The Elections Watch Committee (EWC) in partnership with seven organizations of different expertise and background: Peace Ambassadors-The Gambia (PAG), Activista, National Youth Parliament (NYP), Think Young Women (TYW), Beakanyang, Peace Hub-The Gambia (PHTG), and Th Gambia federation of the Disabled (GFD)collaborating to observe the electoral process in The Gambia.