In a strategic move to boost digital safety and empowerment for women and girls in Sierra Leone, the Marigold Initiative has launched its groundbreaking “Beyond Access Report” on digital safety and empowerment of women and girls in Sierra Leone on Tuesday, 17th October 2023 at the Africell American Corner located on Bathurst Street in Freetown.

The Marigold Initiative is dedicated to making the online world safer and more inclusive for women and girls.

The said report highlights the challenges and opportunities for digital literacy and online safety among young girls in the Community.

Speaking on the rationale behind the launching of the initiative, The Founder Tracy Jack-during revealed that the initiative is not just another organization but a beacon of hope, a haven, and a relentless advocate for digital rights and safety and the empowerment of women and girls in Sierra Leone. She affirmed that their mission and driving force is to see women and girls blossom not just to exist but to realize their full potential. She pointed out that they don’t only launch a report but herald a movement – called the “Cyber Save Her’ a campaign geared towards ensuring the safety, rights, and opportunities for women and girls are non-negotiable in this digital age.

She states, “I stand before you as a representative of Marigold Initiative, an organization that was born not out of mere desires. I didn’t do it because I wanted to be, I wanted to be sure, and I wanted passion to drive me to do it so that every time I wanted to stop I felt like I had a reason to hold on. When I embarked on this Journey, It wasn’t about what I wanted to do, It was what I thought needed to be done. The Marigold initiate is not Just another Organization but a Beacon of hope, a haven, and a relentless advocate for digital rights and safety for the empowerment of women and girls in Sierra Leone”

She emphasized that we are talking about dangers in Social Media but we are not telling people about the opportunity adding that there are so many opportunities that necessitate the need to train Young girls who are navigating the internet on how to go about it.

Tracy Jac-During encouraged girls to protect themselves by not sharing their passwords and advised them to create their email and social media accounts independently to prevent password leakage.

The representative of Meraki Analytics Henry H. Kargbo, shed light on the baseline study they conducted to ascertain their statistics about girls in the “ Beyond Access Report “. He thanked Marigold for bringing the work to Meraki, a data research firm that prides itself on excellence. He affirmed that they believe that Data is the new Oil as every informed decision should be backed by credible data. He further revealed that during the process of collecting Data for the baseline study, they employed all female enumerators because they were talking to girls.

Speaking on the systematic procedure they took to get their final data, Kargbo said “We targeted 10 Schools around the country and western Area Urban and Western Area Rural. The focus was to make an informed decision. We went out there in the field and took five days out there and there were Key Findings. We use stratified random sampling where we got all the schools and we use systematic sampling method to find the respondents in each group,”

The report further highlights that 46% of girls lack the knowledge to protect themselves online.

One-quarter of the surveyed girls admitted to sharing sensitive information that they later regretted, while a staggering 90% of them have never received digital rights training.

The keynote speaker, Millicent Kargbo, the Executive President of SLAWIJ (Sierra Leone Association of Women in Journalism), commended the organization for the timely report. She emphasized the rampant issue of cyberbullying and its devastating effects on its victims. Kargbo disclosed that in 2022, a similar report was conducted, focusing on the attacks faced by members of her organization and other women in public positions. She stressed the importance of continuing to advocate for a safe online environment for women and girls.

Kargbo encouraged her audience to assert their rights and speak out against cyber-bullying, reminding them that legal protections exist, and cyber-bullies can face penalties. Notably, she acknowledged that women can sometimes be bullied not only by men but also by their fellow women. Kargbo concluded her speech by officially launching the “Beyond Access Report,” followed by a detailed presentation by a representative from Meraki Analytics, a data research firm.

The event featured various performances by members of the organization and included additional speakers shedding light on the pressing issue in the form of poetic performance.

Marigold Initiative is a proactive organization in Sierra Leone, that endeavors to bridge the gap digital divide by empowering girls with knowledge about digital rights and Online security.