Betty Gbean-Harris

President of the Liberian Koyean Women’s Group and WCI training participant

Biography:

Betty Gbean-Harris is the current President of the Koyean Women’s Group in Beatuo Toen, Tappita District, Nimba County, Liberia.  She is a former elementary school teacher at the Ganta United Methodist School.  Ms. Gbean-Harris participated in a WCI-sponsored training to promote the capacity of rural Liberian women in community peace negotiations and mediation.  She organized discussions in several communities about the role women can play in sustaining peace and encouraging inter-tribal reconciliation.

Betty’s Thoughts on Women Worldwide…

My wish for women is ……….. for capable women to be empowered, meaning they have leadership skills comparable with that of their male counterparts.  But, what is most required now, is to help raise their financial status to the point of becoming totally independent in decision making process.

My advice for young women leaders is ……….. to remain focused and above all emulate the good examples of older women whose services have been exemplary.

The reason I am here today is ……… to add my voice to the many voices in the field of advocacy for the advancement of women. I believe women can do even better than their male counterparts if given the same opportunity.

I am most proud of ……….. seeing women becoming leaders of their nations like Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf the first female President of an African nation. Her election gave encouragement to women to build confidence in themselves that no role is ever impossible for women to perform.

The greatest obstacles that I faced were ……….. that majority of the women are not literate, lack financial power, feel inferior to males in most work places and are in most cases  entrenched to cultural and traditional habits.

March 7-9, 2009

Monrovia, Liberia

As part of the celebration for International Women’s Day on March 8, the female presidents of Liberia, Madame Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf and Finland, President Tarja Halonen, have co-convened an international colloquium to discuss women’s empowerment, leadership development, international peace and security. The conference is expected to draw more than 400 international participants and 400 Liberian national participants including female heads of state and government, ministers, CEOs, NGO, community, and religious leaders.  WCI is honored to be participating in the colloquium as invited guests and will also be featured in an interactive talk show discussing WCI’s experiences training female elected leaders and the obstacles they overcome.  Read more about the Colloquium here: http://womenscolloquium.org/col.html