AN ADVOCACY EVENT ON EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH PUBLIC PROCUREMENT WAS ORGANISED BY THE GAMBIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY AND GIEPA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UNDP.
The event is meant to raise awareness of the challenges faced by women and young entrepreneurs.
Women and young entrepreneurs face interconnected barriers to accessing opportunities associated with public procurement in the Gambia. These barriers range from legal and regulatory hurdles, to gender biases and lack of knowledge about contracts management, networks and finance.
The event provides a platform for sharing of information that will stimulate an increase in entrepreneurial activity by women owned businesses and provide solutions to challenges.
The workshop brings together senior policy makers with business and civil society representatives to set the course for gender mainstreaming in public procurement in the Gambia as well as share best practice and lesson learned from the experience of affirmative procurement measures.
The President of the Gambia women chamber of commerce, Naffie Barry, says women still remain under-represented as entrepreneurs and they earn 30-40% less than their male counterparts. She gives the steps needed to move towards more inclusive gender sensitive public procurement.
GIEPA’s Director of business and expert development of, Lamin Gaye says government procurement provide a wide range of opportunities and offers a fiscally responsible route to empower women, combat poverty and promote inclusive economic growth. However, the percentage of women in procurement in the Gambia remains low.
The Deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of trade, Abdoulie Jammeh says women make up 50.1% of the Gambian population and 38% of the labour force. He adds that the government is aware that despite women’s centrality in economic development, women empowerment remains a challenge. He assures women of the government’s support.
The theme of the event is the Gambia on the way to business transformation- improved access to business opportunities for women. The advocacy will help increase women’s participation in bidding for, getting and executing government contracts in sectors that have been traditionally gender-blind such as tourism, ICT, energy and urban development, amongst others.
BY: Biram S Jobe