The Soroptimist International of Banjul last Thursday March 8 celebrated its 20th anniversary. Soroptimist International Banjul branch is affiliated with Soroptimist International in Great Britain and Ireland.

This Federation serves as a global voice for women and also strives to empower both adult and young women, especially in the areas of Education and Health. This anniversary also coincides with the celebration of International Women’s Day, which is also celebrated worldwide as part of United Nations Declaration.

To mark the celebration of these two important events- Hilary-kay Young, President of Soroptimist Federation and Liz Morgan Lewis, Director of the Federation on Saturday 10 March, joined the Banjul branch to mark these two important events.

The Federation started it celebration with a visit to community initiative project, at Wellinghara.

In his welcoming remarks, Bernard Bass, Coordinator of the Women Adult-literacy commended the Federation, for visiting Wellinghara. He dwelled on the importance of women in society, saying “women are partners in development and without their effective involvement in national development, the vision of any country will be hard to achieve.”

According to him, women of Wellinghara are not left behind in national development as they have been engaged in lots of activities, such as literacy programmes, soap-making, tie and dye, sewing, amongst others, through the help of donors and development partners.

For her part, Hilara-kay Young, President of the Federation thanked the women of Wellinghara for their hard work and dedication, adding that this has brought a lot of difference in their lives. She pledged that Soroptimist International will continue to work closely with the women of Wellinghara in order to enhance their greater participation in national development.

Musa Jawo, an executive of the women’s association, expressed appreciation in the collaboration of the Soroptimist and Community Initiative Support (CIS), for the development of the people of Wellinghara and Gambians in general. He also applauded the women association for their hard work.

As part of the three-day schedule programme, the Soroptimist Federation on Saturday hosted a grand fund-raising dinner at the Paradise Suit Hotel. Today Monday March 12, they are expected to hold other activities, such as the unveiling of a plaque at Soroptimist Club premises, along Jimpex road behind GOVI, Kanifing; pay a courtesy call on the Honourable speaker; visit RVTH Soroptimist sponsored ward, MRC, and Sukuta Lower Basic Soroptimist sponsored School.