In his statement, the United Nations Resident Representative and Coordinator, Sunil Saigal, said the time of the launching of the report is significant because it falls within the period of the global campaign, known as the 16 days of activism against gender –based violence. He said the report reviews the ongoing efforts of African countries, including Sierra Leone, to accelerate the pace of ensuring the empowerment of women through all spheres of society. He praised the government of Sierra Leone for enacting laws to promote gender equality and placing women’s issues as priorities in the Agenda for Prosperity.
In her statement, the Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Dr. Sylvia Blyden, was displeased with UNDP for “sidelining (her) Ministry and the Executive on the issue of Female Genital Mutilation.” Dr. Blyden accused the UN Agency of undermining the policies of government on FGM and called on them to work with her Ministry and government in improving the livelihood of women.
Presentation of the AHRD 2016 was done by Moses Sichei, whilst the Director of Public Relations in Parliament, Cyril Juxon-Smith, who moderated the launch, described the Human Development Report as one of the top sources of international development data.
