Making sense of girls empowerment in Sierra Leone: a conversation

Abstract

This Testify article features a conversation about the emancipatory potentials and pitfalls of girls empowerment as practiced, experienced, and judged by Sierra Leonean activists. We – two scholars and four activists – discussed views on and experiences of girls empowerment approaches that have been interpreted in critical scholarly literature as a form of neoliberal responsibilization. Also within this critical literature, there is often the notion that these approaches may yet create openings for emancipatory agency and counter-conduct. However, it remains unclear whether this happens and to what extent. Our conversation centres activists’ views on the academic critique of girls empowerment and raises a number of questions, including: Why do many feminist activists in Sierra Leone embrace girls empowerment approaches? What do they see in them? How do they interpret and practice them? Where do they see potentials and pitfalls? And what is the role of donors?

The Issues Behind Girl Empowerment in Teenage Pregnancy: The Case of Sierra Leone

“…Dream. Choose" [7]. This is the Government of Sierra Leone and UNICEF in collaboration with Aid Ireland [7].…”

“…Choose" [7]. This is the Government of Sierra Leone and UNICEF in collaboration with Aid Ireland [7]. This picture gives a nice picture of going to school and having a great future, and it seems like it is possible just by denying teenage pregnancy.…”

“…A funder is usually selective about her concerns and will only give to issues that match their preferences and are feasible in principle [10]. Several activists in Sierra Leone in dialogue on this issue pointed out that having large donor funds often also means very strict regulatory constraints, making it difficult for local organizations to do things organically [7]. Moiyattu Banya, another experienced person engaged in related projects, encountered a similar problem.…”

“…On the whole, existing girls' empowerment does not seem to be a good solution to real problems, but the conversations of activists point to a more optimistic outlook. They pointed out that with efforts to raise awareness, girls were informed enough to make more informed decisions, but social support was still lacking [7]. So follow-up support is necessary and critical.…”