Background

Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord in August 2003, Liberia remains in a state of relative peace. However, the country is still plagued by destruction from fourteen years of civil unrest including massive economic debt, a high rate of unemployment, thousands of refugees and internally displaced people, and poor or undeveloped infrastructure. Amid all of these challenges, Liberians came together in November 2006 and elected the first African female head of state, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Since the election of Johnson-Sirleaf, unprecedented numbers of women have assumed leadership positions. Women comprise 17% of the Senate, 12.5% in the House of Representatives, 31% among junior and senior ministers and 33% among local government officials.

Liberian women are also strong leaders in civil society. During the conflict many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including women-led organizations began programs for marginalized populations. Many of these grassroots women leaders were also active in bringing peace to the country and mobilizing their communities in large numbers during Johnson-Sirleaf’s election. These political activists plan to mobilize again for women candidates during the local elections scheduled for spring of 2009. Sustaining women’s public roles and increasing the number of women in leadership positions is important to ensure that Liberia maintains its trajectory to become a vibrant, inclusive, and effective democracy.

WCI’s Programs

Since completing an in-country needs assessment in Monrovia in January 2008, WCI has designed a comprehensive program to increase women’s participation in peace building and decision-making processes. WCI is working with several prominent women’s organizations to provide capacity-building and skills training for over 700 Liberian women and men.

Fostering peace and community mediation with National Women’s Commission of Liberia (NAWOCOL): Sixty community members from rival ethnic groups with a history of violence were trained in conflict mediation techniques while coming together as a community to experiment with improved agricultural techniques in communal gardens. Additionally each community established a peace club with a majority of women in leadership positions, to help improve women’s capacity to mediate in conflict and also to participate in community decision-making processes.

Publicizing women’s leadership with Women NGO’s Secretariat of Liberia: (WONGOSOL): WCI partnered with WONGOSOL to create a comprehensive database of 186 women’s organizations throughout Liberia and a series of regionally broadcast radio programs featuring prominent women leaders in various fields. These radio programs have been used to foster dialogue among women’s groups about topics of particular importance to women, including health, education, and peace building and have provided networking opportunities for women interested in contesting elections.

Increasing awareness of gender based violence, sexual exploitation, abuse and HIV/AIDS with Society for Women’s Action and Progress (SWAP), Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), Women Aid Inc. (WAI), and Women Aid Society (WAS): Due to the pressing demand for more community-based gender based violence awareness programs, WCI organized several trainings throughout Liberia. These programs have employed various methods including skits, songs, and community-trained educators to discuss domestic conflict mediation skills, ways to prevent violence against women and awareness on HIV/AIDS identification, prevention and care. WCI supported SWAA-Liberia in conducting a comprehensive assessment of targeted communities’ knowledge, attitude, practice and behavior related to conflict, violence against women and HIV/AIDS.

Income generation and citizenship skills for women with Women Aid Inc. (WAI): WCI conducted skills training for women and adolescent girls on computer literacy, soap making, literacy and numeracy training in addition to community peace building. With these skills, the women from the WCI-WAI training will have the skills necessary to play active roles as Liberia continues its transition to longer-term peace. Women and male authorities in the community, including school officials and village chiefs, have been trained in civic education to ensure community support of women’s leadership activities.

Grief and Trauma Counseling to Conflict-Affected Women with Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia: In conjunction with the TRC’s gender unit, WCI supported trainings for community-based psychosocial counselors from every country and sensitization trainings for male spouses and partners of women affected by the conflict. Trainings have been conducted for traditional female leaders on how to support communities dealing with post-conflict trauma and reintegration. A national women’s conference was held in August that brought together practitioners and experts to discuss and draft a series of recommendations for next-steps in the country’s reconciliation process.

WCI’s Impact