TABU NJIE SARR – ActionAid The Gambia
“I urge all women to stand in solidarity with one another. Woman is Power, Woman is Culture, Woman is Love.”.
Tabu Njie Sarr, Women's Rights Project Manager at ActionAid, has worked with the organization for many years and shared with us insights into the struggles of women in The Gambia and the significance of International Rural Women's Day.
In The Gambia, women represent 80 percent of the agricultural workforce, yet they rarely own the land they work on, which typically remains under the control of male family members.
In recognition of International Day of Rural Women (October 15), ActionAid holds an annual march and rally where women from across the country come together to meet with key leaders, review progress, and, more importantly, address what still needs to be done, while emphasizing the vital role of women in agriculture for the country's economy.
Over the past year, the presence of the Minister of Agriculture, Demba Sabally, has been particularly significant. Representatives from women's farming organizations acknowledged the importance of recent measures, such as reducing fertilizer costs and granting new land for cultivation. At the same time, they reiterated their demands on critical issues still unresolved, including climate justice, access to land, protection against gender-based violence, and inadequate political representation.