President Julius Maada Bio has turned a long-standing aspiration into a legal guarantee; the inclusion of women in political governance is no longer merely a recommendation, but a constitutional obligation. This quiet revolution rests on two major legislative pillars: the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act (GEWE Act) and the ongoing constitutional reform, which enshrine in law a minimum quota of 30 percent women in decision-making bodies.
Signed in November 2022 and published in the Official Gazette on December 30, 2022, the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act (GEWE Act) requires all designated public and private organizations to set aside at least 30 percent of their workforce for women, as well as 30 percent of all management and decision-making positions. The law also applies to Parliament, where only 18 of the 146 seats were held by women prior to its adoption.
President Bio has repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring the full implementation of this law. During a meeting with the regional director of UN Women for West and Central Africa in February 2026, he emphasized that gender priorities would be integrated into the constitutional reform process, thereby strengthening the legal and institutional safeguards for women’s rights.
The ongoing constitutional reform goes a step further: it calls for explicitly enshrining in the Constitution the requirement that political parties field at least 30 percent female candidates in national and local elections. This provision makes the quota binding, regardless of the electoral system adopted, and responds to calls from civil society organizations, such as the Young Women in Governance Network, which had been advocating for a constitutional guarantee.
This progress is accompanied by other structural measures: the abolition of the death penalty, the repeal of a 55-year-old law on seditious defamation, and the adoption of a law prohibiting child marriage, which criminalizes the marriage of any person under the age of 18.
Thus, under the leadership of Julius Maada Bio, Sierra Leone has emerged as a pioneer in West Africa, transforming the inclusion of women from a mere aspiration into a legal and constitutional obligation guaranteed by the state.
