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Senegal Presidential candidate champions women’s rights

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Liz Draper
WVoN co-editor

Amsatou Sow Sidibe, one of two women among the 14 candidates for this month’s presidential election in the West African nation of Senegal, is using her candidacy to highlight the issues faced by the country’s women.

Speaking to Voice of America last week from the Dakar capital, Sow Sidibe said that if elected, she would champion women’s rights and equality.

“I will do a lot for women, because I know the importance of women in family and society in general. But I will not just be for women, I will also work for men and an equal society.”

She also drew attention to women’s role in conflict resolution, and the importance of women’s health to the population.

The presidential vote, due to take place on February 26, will be the first to feature two women on the ballot paper.

Along with Dieng Douma Diakhate, Sow Sidibe is one of the first women to run for president in Senegal for more than a decade.

A professor of private law at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Sidibe has long advocated for women’s rights and participated in politics through her work with the African Network for the Promotion of Women Workers.

However, the issues raised by Sidibe’s candidacy have been somewhat overshadowed by the violence and protests which have rocked the country as it prepares for the presidential election.

Senegal has been one of Africa’s most peaceful democratic nations since it gained independence from France in 1960, but this stability is threatened by a dispute over the right of the incumbent president, Abdoulaye Wade, to stand for a third term in power.

Constitutional reforms introduced in 2001 limit any presidential candidate to two consecutive terms in office. Wade, 85, is approaching the end of his second term, but claims that because the reforms were implemented after he came to power, they do not apply to his first term.

Opponents accuse the president of violating the constitution, and widespread protests have taken place calling for him to withdraw his candidacy.

However, the Constitutional Council last month upheld his right to stand for a third term.

Along with the other candidates, Sidibe has denounced Wade’s candidacy.

Protests continue in Dakar, despite the deaths of four people and a government ban on demonstrations.

  1. Jane Da Vall says:

    Reading about this woman, just after reading about that woman at Fox News, you just have to wonder at the heights and depths of the human character.

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