{"id":95480,"date":"2026-04-01T10:51:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T10:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill"},"modified":"2026-04-01T12:09:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T12:09:25","slug":"eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill","title":{"rendered":"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span><b>The European Union Delegation convened a high-stakes roundtable on March 24, 2026, to rally support for the Women Quota Amendment Bill, a landmark proposal to reserve fourteen seats for women in the National Assembly.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Bringing together gender advocates, civil society leaders, and diplomats, the event hosted at Alliance Franc\u0327aise underscored the European Union\u2019s commitment to advancing gender equality in The Gambia\u2019s democratic framework.<\/p>\n<p>With women currently holding just five of 58 seats, the discussion led by panellists including EU Ambassador, Imma Roca i Corte\u0301s, the Speaker of the National Youth Parliament, Commissioner Dibba of the National Human Rights Commission and civil society representatives, highlighted urgent needs for legislative reform amid cultural and political hurdles.<\/p>\n<p>The Draft Constitution Amendment Bill 2026 seeks to allocate 14 reserved seats for women and two for persons with disabilities in future elections.<\/p>\n<p>This builds on the National Assembly\u2019s January review, led by the Select Committee on Gender, Children and Social Welfare, which incorporated stakeholder feedback to refine the quota system. Proponents argue it addresses post-independence gender imbalances, aligning with international standards like CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol, while fast-tracking inclusive governance.<\/p>\n<p>Critics, however, raised concerns over implementation timelines and potential tokenism without broader capacity-building.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot talk about democratic consolidation if we have such disparities and such pre-decision-making,\u201d said Halima Dibba, Commissioner at the National Human Rights Commission.<\/p>\n<p>She stressed that genuine democracy requires inclusive participation at all levels.<\/p>\n<p>Dibba highlighted the urgency of the bill, noting that no new laws can be enacted within six months to elections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s crucial that we be transparent with the bill; time is of the essence,\u201d she warned, adding that that Gambian women\u2019s competence is beyond question and must be guaranteed through structural measures. Despite existing laws permitting women to contest seats, their presence remains alarmingly low \u2013 fewer than 10 percent in both Parliament and Cabinet \u2013 a gap she said undermines the country\u2019s democratic progress.<\/p>\n<p>The commissioner urged political parties to nominate more women actively and called for protective legislation to create a safer political environment. \u201cWe need to make the space safer for women,\u201d Dibba stated, emphasising that barriers such as harassment and lack of support continue to discourage female participation.<\/p>\n<p>Deggen Jobe, President of the Women in Leadership and Political Participation and coordinator for the CSO Gender Platform, expressed cautious optimism that the bill could succeed, crediting the groundwork already laid by Parliament\u2019s Gender Committee.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal would create 14 women-only seats, contested exclusively by female candidates, but open to all eligible Gambians holding voter cards. Women would remain free to compete for the existing 53 constituency seats as well.<\/p>\n<p>Jobe drew on insights from a 2024 study trip to Kenya, where successful strategies for boosting women\u2019s representation were examined.<\/p>\n<p>Acknowledging potential resistance to permanent quotas, Jobe proposed a pragmatic compromise: implementing the system on a trial basis for 15 years to evaluate its impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis can serve as a foundational step for ensuring greater participation of women in Gambian politics,\u201d Jobe said, calling for collaboration among political parties, civil society organisations, and the public to foster a more supportive ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Jabou Sisawo, Speaker of the National Youth Parliament, said the passage of this bill is a step in the right direction. She noted that women constitute the majority of Gambia\u2019s population and electorate, Sisawo argued that elected bodies must reflect the demographics they serve. \u201cWith women\u2019s backing being crucial for electoral success, ensuring higher representation in Parliament will lead to a more inclusive and representative political landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A number of participants at the discussions argued that despite women making up over 50 percent of the population and voters in many countries, including The Gambia, they remain significantly underrepresented in decision-making roles.<\/p>\n<p>The event held in the context of International Women\u2019s Day\/month, was moderated by Raphae\u0308l Brigandi Deputy Dead of Mission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Gambia<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. The European Union Delegation convened a high-stakes roundtable on March 24, 2026, to rally support for the Women Quota Amendment Bill, a landmark proposal to reserve fourteen seats for women in the National Assembly. Bringing together gender advocates, civil society leaders, and diplomats, the event hosted at Alliance Franc\u0327aise underscored the European [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-95480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. The European Union Delegation ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. The European Union Delegation ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-01T10:51:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-01T12:09:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-01T10:51:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-01T12:09:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill\"},\"wordCount\":664,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill\",\"name\":\"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-01T10:51:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-01T12:09:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The European Union Delegation ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill - Gambia","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The European Union Delegation ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The European Union Delegation ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-04-01T10:51:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-01T12:09:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill","datePublished":"2026-04-01T10:51:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-01T12:09:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill"},"wordCount":664,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg","keywords":["Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill","name":"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-01T10:51:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-01T12:09:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The European Union Delegation ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/04\/sm_1775044978.419793.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/eu-hosts-roundtable-to-rally-support-for-women-quota-bill#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EU Hosts Roundtable to Rally Support for Women Quota Bill"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95515,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95480\/revisions\/95515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}