By Augustine Bamie Anthony, MOICE
President Julius Maada Bio has called on the United Nations to demonstrate in practice the equality it asks Member States to uphold.
Addressing the 81st session of the General Assembly, President Bio said the selection of the next Secretary-General would represent an important test of the organization’s commitment to equality and institutional reform.
He noted that, in the 80-year history of the United Nations, every Secretary-General has been a man.
President Bio said the women who have presented themselves for the position have demonstrated competence beyond dispute. What remains, he argued, is the collective will to entrust a woman with the organization’s highest office.
His intervention builds on Sierra Leone’s consistent advocacy for the rights and leadership of women and girls.
At home, the Bio administration has advanced measures aimed at protecting girls, widening access to education and confronting harmful practices. In 2024, Sierra Leone enacted the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and subsequently championed international recognition of 27 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage.
President Bio said protecting a girl’s childhood, education and freedom is a central measure of what development should mean.
He also emphasized the need for stronger representation in international institutions, arguing that legitimacy depends on whether institutions reflect the people and regions affected by their decisions.
This principle applies not only to the office of the Secretary-General, but also to the Security Council, international financial institutions and the international justice system.
Sierra Leone has nominated Professor Charles C. Jalloh, a distinguished international jurist, for election as a judge of the International Court of Justice. His candidacy has received the endorsement of the African Union and ECOWAS.
President Bio appealed to Member States to support the nomination in the election scheduled for 3 November.
Through these positions, President Bio has presented Sierra Leone as a country committed to gender equality, institutional fairness and a more representative international system.
His message was both principled and practical: the United Nations cannot credibly demand equality from the world while failing to embody it within its own highest offices.
