GAMBIA

Rohey Malick Lowe, Mayor of Banjul, given African Woman of the Year award
August 2024: Rohey Malick Lowe, the Mayor of the Gambian capital Banjul (population 32,000), has been named the African Woman of the Year 2024 by The Voice news magazine, a Pan-African publication based in the Netherlands. According to The Voice, the title was bestowed on the Mayor for her tireless dedication to improving the lives of her fellow citizens. In a statement, the organisers of the award said: “Mayor Lowe, known for her hard work, intelligence, and servant leadership, has made significant strides in transforming Banjul, setting a benchmark for good governance. Her efforts have earned her this recognition for enhancing the quality of life in her city and contributing to the Gambia’s progress on the global stage.”

Mayor Lowe’s numerous roles, including President of the Local Elected Women in Africa (REFELA), Vice President of the Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM), and Second Vice President of the United Democratic Party (UDP) in the Gambia, reflect her broad impact.

Rohey Malick Lowe was born in 1971 in Banjul, then known as Bathurst. Her father, Alhagie Malick Lowe, was mayor of Banjul from 1981 to 1983. In 2012, she moved to Europe and studied international relations at the University of Falun in Sweden. Lowe returned to The Gambia in 2017 and was a founding member of the centrist United Democratic Party. She was elected Mayor of Banjul in May 2018. Lowe defeated eight other candidates including incumbent Abdoulie Bah and another woman, Lizzie Eunson, a banker who ran as an Independent.

More recently, Mayor Lowe has campaigned against domestic and sexual violence against women. The ‘Gambia Says More’ was launched in January 2024 by the representatives of the Commonwealth and the Gambian government in the presence of the Mayor and other attendees from the Gambia and several other African countries.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, urged everyone to take responsibility for making homes places of safety for women and girls, adding: “That is the only way we can achieve peace in our communities, countries and the world.” She also commended the work of the NO MORE Foundation, which has been working in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat to create a world where there is no more domestic and sexual violence.

In the Gambia, one in three women experience sexual or physical violence in their lifetime. The abuse remains largely unreported due to impunity, silence, stigma and fear. In recent years, the Gambia has introduced a range of measures to strengthen the protection of women and girls, including specialist domestic abuse courts and a national gender-based violence helpline.

While the country is strengthening the protection of women, the LGBT community still faces discrimination and persecution. Consensual same-sex activity for both men and women continues to be illegal. In a statement, published in February 2023, the UK Home Office (Interior Ministry), writes the Gambia continues to be a culturally and religiously conservative society where discriminatory attitudes and low tolerance of LGBT persons persist. However, since President Adama Barrow took power in 2017 there have been some improvements in the general human rights environment, with considerably fewer persecutions.

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