By Our Correspondent.
14 ‘soweis’ or bondo initiators from various parts of Bombali, Port Loko, Kono and the Western Area have agreed to abandon the practice of initiating girls below eighteen years into the ‘bondo’ society. They were among twenty participants in a Dialogue Forum With ‘Soweis’ organised by Campaign for Good Governance with support from Amnesty International Special Programme on Africa at the Pastoral Centre, Makeni, on Monday December 1st 2008.
The objectives of the Dialogue Forum were to raise the awareness of the initiators on the effects of Harmful Traditional Practices and to develop a partnership with them to promote women’s and children’s rights in Sierra Leone. The Dialogue Forum was a follow up to a workshop that Campaign for Good Governance organized in September 2008 in Port Loko with human rights organizations to develop a sustainable strategy to address the effects of Harmful Traditional Practices in the country.
During the discussions, it was observed that most of the Soweis were recruited into the profession during their childhood, many depend on the trade for their survival and would abandon it if provided alternative livelihood means. They also commended Campaign for Good Governance and Amnesty International Special Programme on Africa for the initiative of holding frank discussions with them directly rather than criticizing them as other groups had been doing before.
A combined Action Plan was developed at the end of the Forum to follow up on the issues raised by the participants. It includes holding meetings with colleague ‘soweis’ in the pilot areas to pass the message and bring them on board, briefing relevant government ministries on the outcome of the deliberations, engaging the media to promote the campaign and lobbying donor institutions to support projects that will address the livelihood concerns of the ‘soweis’.
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