March 2009 Liberia Trip

Women from Margibi County hear personal stories of national woman leaders during an
From March 1 to March 8, 2009, Ambassador Swanee Hunt and the staff of the Institute for Inclusive Security traveled to Liberia to advocate for women’s political leadership and engagement in security sector reform. In particular we strove to:

  • Support passage of the "Fairness Bill" through a workshop with the Women Legislative Caucus, political party representatives, and civil society leaders;
  • Encourage women to run for local elections through an "Inspiration Day" in Margibi County;
  • Advance women’s engagement in security sector reform through a roundtable discussion hosted by the US Embassy; and
  • Participate in the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security, hosted by the governments of Liberia and Finland.

In our workshop with the Women Legislative Caucus, we discussed advancing passage of the Fairness Bill, which would offer incentives to political parties that exceed the minimum of 30% women in their internal leadership and candidate lists. The WLC and 45 men and women—including elected officials, political party heads, and civil society leaders—attended our session. Immediately following our consultation, workshop participants developed a concept note and a budget to guide the implementation and funding of several activities to promote the bill, including meetings with key political party leaders and increasing public awareness of the bill by translating it into local dialects. The National Democratic Institute and other international development partners also participated in the workshop.

Building on a model we employed last year in Lofa County, Inclusive Security hosted 120 women in Margibi County for an Inspiration Day to increase the number of women in local government. Senator Clarice Jah, Honorable Alomiza Ennos, and Honorable Regina Sokan-Teah, all members of the Women Waging Peace Network, spoke to local community leaders about their experiences running for public office and serving as female legislators. At the close of the event, several women enthusiastically addressed the crowd to say they were going to run for office.

On March 6, we co-hosted a roundtable discussion, "Changing the Face of Security: Promoting Women’s Inclusion in Security Sector Reform," with US Ambassador to Liberia Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Among the 30 participants were German Ambassador Ilse Lindemann-Macha, Inspector General of the Liberian National Police Beatrice Sieh, and senior US Embassy staff. Small groups assessed progress toward and priorities for advancing the recommendations generated by Liberian women peace builders on increasing women’s engagement in security sector reform. Liberian delegates to Colloquium 2008 participated, as did members of the Security for Women through Advocacy Coalition.

A participant at the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security in Monrovia discovers new organizations working with Liberian women peace builders. We were pleased to attend the historic International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security hosted by the Governments of Liberia and Finland. The event brought together more than 800 international and Liberian men and women aiming to advance women’s social, political, and economic leadership. Ambassador Swanee Hunt facilitated a session on how to best develop National Action Plans for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Pairs of participants agreed to partner to advance UNSCR 1325 implementation across national lines.







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