Table 2: Number of Asset Declaration forms submitted to the ACC Commission Location Number of Forms Distributed Western Area 40,874 15,170 37.11 Northern Region 8,563 3,656 43.0 Southern and Eastern Region 7,716 931 12.6 OBJECTIVE 7: Promoting and protecting the Rights of Women 3.2.16 Enactment of Legislations Protecting Women’s Rights- Government enacted the three gender laws : the Anti-Human Trafficking Act 2005, Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act 2009, Devolution of Estate Act 2007, Domestic Violence Act 2007 and the Sexual Offences Act 2012. 3.2.17. Intensifying awareness creation efforts for the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment- The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs in partnership with women’s rights organization has undertaken several awareness raising programmes on gender equality and women’s empowerment across the country. Currently the Ministry is undertaking the women’s empowerment project through the popularization of the three “Gender Justice Laws” (Registration of Customary Marriages and Divorce Act 2007; Domestic Violence Act 2007 and Devolution of Estates Act 2007). Awareness raising programmes have been implemented through major advocacy events like the International Women’s Day celebrations of March every year. 3.2.18. Implementing the 30 percent quota recommendation of the TRC The government is committed to the Minimum 30% quota as recommended by the TRC, CEDAW and Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs established the National M30 Taskforce which is headed by the Deputy Minister. The Government instructed the APRM Sierra Leone | Annual Progress Report Number of Forms Collected Level of Compliance (%) THE BILL WAS INITIALLY DRAFTED AS “AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BILL 2011 AND LATER CHANGED TO ‘GENDER EQUALITY BILL 2012 TO INCLUDE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GENDER EQUALITY COMMISSION. Sierra Leone Female Parliamentary Caucus to develop a draft Bill on the minimum 30% quota for women’s participation in governance. The Bill was initially drafted as “Affirmative Action Bill 2011 and later changed to ‘Gender Equality Bill 2012 to include the establishment of the Gender Equality Commission. This bill was not tabled in Parliament but government is still committed to the process and encourages the women to take leadership. 3.2.19 Gender responsive budgeting, and the establishment of accountability mechanisms for gender equality and women’s empowerment The Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Pillar in the Agenda for Prosperity seeks to address the issue of gender budgeting. Capacity building through trainings was provided for key MDAs and Local Councils across the country to the extent of establishing a Gender Budgeting Committee. 31