"Women and girls, know your rights!" This is the title of the manual, which aims to raise awareness and popularize women's rights among women. To this end, the Women's Platform for Peace in Casamance (PFPC), in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, organized a day to share the document with girls and women from the Ziguinchor region who could serve as a relay to raise awareness among their sisters about their rights, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, 25 years after its adoption.

On this occasion, the president of the PFPC denounced the lack of involvement of women in negotiations and decision-making, despite their commitment. "What we are saying, we know very well, because we have experienced it and we are still experiencing it," declared Ndèye Marie Thiam Diédhiou.

According to her, the presentation of the manual "allows us to stop, take stock, revisit Resolution 1325, see the progress, what we have done so far, what challenges lie ahead and see how to bounce back and move forward."

"Resolution 1325 is the political instrument on which we base our actions and which protects us in the implementation of the activities we carry out. In this regard, I would like to thank all the authorities of this country, including the defense and security forces who are supporting us in the work we are doing," she added.

Wolly Lo, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Rule of Law Program Officer, says that despite Resolution 1325, there is still a growing awareness of gender-based violence. Added to this is a lack of understanding of the legal instruments on women's rights and their protection, which is the basis of the manual. A simplified document accessible to all women, educated or not.

This book is designed in a simple format so that women can take ownership of their rights, explained Ms. Lo. The idea behind this manual includes a call for help, for action, and for awareness-raising to take into account the demand. "There is no longer any reason to observe any discrimination, but also a lack of knowledge regarding the appropriation of women and girls' rights," continued Wolly Lo.

For the program manager for the promotion of the rule of law at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the goal of "this instrument is to equip all women and young girls who are interested in the protection of their rights, to be able to have this accessibility, in particular the texts of Senegal which frame these rights, but all the useful institutions, whether political, associative movements, which are there in the framework of advocacy and useful actions so that they can be guided in the framework of their demands."

There is a need to support women citizens in particular so that they can be active players in claiming and protecting their own territory, concluded Wolly Lo.