Women Leaders in Sierra Leone Discuss Ways to Put an End to Charcoal and Fire Wood Burning
By: Musa Kamara
Representatives of women’s organizations, civil society and the private sector gathered at the Country Lodge Hotel in Freetown to confront the issue that is killing women and children - the use of charcoal and firewood when they do simple tasks as cooking meals for their families. They came together because they want cleaner cooking solutions that would keep them healthy while keeping the environment safe for everyone.
Bringing them together for the symposium under the leadership of the Presidential Initiative for Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security, were the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Gender, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Ministry of Energy who co-hosted the event. The guest of honour was Ms. Dymphna van der Lans, CEO of the Clean Cooking Alliance in Washington, DC. 
In his short statement, Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, Chairman, Presidential Initiative for Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security expressed delight and appreciation to partners for putting the symposium together.
Speaking about the purpose of the event, Dr. Yumkella stated that, clean cooking is not only about cooking, but it is about women and energy. He stated that, women's economic empowerment involves technology and innovation. He called on the women of Sierra Leone to make their voices heard, to organize themselves and be advocates for women. “This is just the start,” he said. “It is about your health and providing you with opportunities to improve your lives. Cooking should not kill you,” he affirmed.
Chairman Yumkella further remarked that energy and gender nexus is about the economic development of Sierra Leone. “Women use their energy to plough the farms, they use energy to harvest their products, they use energy to transport their produces to their homes, they use energy to pound the rice, they use energy to collect fire wood and water, they use energy to fan the flames of the firewood.”
The Deputy Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Madam Mimi Sobba-Stevens remarked that, women should be advocate for policies and reforms on clean cooking energy and be champion of leading awareness campaigns on clean cooking. "We need to make sure that, everyone, including our men are on board," she stated.
The Irish Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Aidan Filtzpatrick expressed delight on seeing women discussing issues related to their own affairs. He said women need power and energy now. "According to SD7, by 2030, everybody should have access to clean cooking energy" he affirmed. The Ambassador pledged the Irish Embassy's support to promoting clean cooking energy in Sierra Leone and lauded the Office of the Presidential Initiative CREF for their tremendous strides taken to solve the issue.
CEO for Clean Cooking Alliance, Dymphna van der Lans stated that, "access to clean cooking energy is a must." She said, cooking using fire wood has a major health risk with it. She called on women to be champions of clean cooking energy and discard the use of fire wood and charcoal.
The symposium included two deliberative sessions including one on “Enabling Policy Environment Including Planning and Regulations” and the other “Employment, Entrepreneurship and Business Opportunities.” Both sessions saw experts discussing policy imperatives, possible solutions and strategies on how to make their voices heard on issues that directly affect them.
The workshop was a follow up to a just concluded energy roundtable discussion that held a special session on promoting the accelerated use of clean cooking energy in Sierra Leone.
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