Dr Kujajatou Manneh, the country director of Actionaid The Gambia, has stressed the need for gender equity. She was speaking at a workshop held at the Paradise Suites Hotel on Tuesday 15th September 2009. 

According to her, "it is of no secret that gender relations and inequality are fundamental causes of poverty. It is also a well known fact that globally, women and girls do not enjoy the same status, power or access to and control over resources as men and boys. Women's rights around the world today are shaped and impacted upon by a number of global trends. Key among these trends are dominance of the neo-liberal economic paradigm, HIV and AIDS, conflict, militarism and violence against women. Each of this trends is contributing to the worsening of the human rights situation of women," she said.

She added that the interaction in these trends are manifested in numerous ways including "exclusion of women from decision making, increased violence against women, reduced access to basic social services, increased vulnerability to hunger and HIV/AIDS infections". Dr Manneh argued that women despite constituting over 50 percent of the population, are the most vulnerable, overburdened, marginalized and disadvantaged.