Monrovia — Drumming and fanfare amid a display of Liberian art works and speeches by heads state and government characterized the opening of the International Colloquium for Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security in Monrovia on Saturday.
The event, which drew hundreds of people from around the world, was jointly convened by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Tarja Halonen of Finland. Also taking part were Presidents Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, whose countries were hailed by delegates as examples of countries who are advancing gender equality.
Amongst other high profile participants making opening remarks on the first day were the First Vice President of Spain, Maria Teresa Fernandez, Prime Minister Luisa Dias Diago of Mozambique, Governor Genera Michaëlle Jean of Canada and Vice President Aja Isatou Njie Saidy of the Gambia.
"Both women and men are needed to build a harmonious and civil society" Halonen said in her welcoming statement. She lamented the plight women and children face in armed conflicts and said that all United Nations member states are called upon to prevent this from happening. In brief opening remarks, President Sirleaf told the gathering that their presence inspires and motivates her to continue to work for change and national renewal in her country.
The event, which was conceptualized during Johnson Sirleaf's 2006 inauguration as the first female elected president in Africa, seeks to create an environment for women and their "champions" around the world to discuss, learn, demonstrate and act on the benefits and lessons learned from women in leadership.
Kagame highlighted a number of reforms Rwanda has undertaken for women's empowerment, including the right of women to inherit properties from the parents and their increased representation in the Rwandan parliament and judiciary.
U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a pre-recorded video message, stressed the need for women to be involved in every aspect of society not only participating, but leading. "Many of you have leadership roles in your home countries but you also know how important it is for us to network and stay connected around global leadership" she said to the audience.
She highlighted the importance of achieving the third of the Millennium Development Goals - promoting gender equality and empowering women. She said without this, achieving the other goals would be difficult because it is only when women are equal partners that one can effectively fight poverty, eradicate disease and protect the environment.
Speaking about the current global economic crisis, Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, vice president for Africa at the World Bank, said there would be less of a mess had women been in charge on Wall Street and Main Street. "If Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters or even Lehman Brothers and Sisters, it would have made a difference," she quipped.
Many local women were in attendance, showcasing in the open-air stadium various ways they are empowering themselves. Whether it was doing plumbing, being mechanics or designing art, they were keen to demonstrate their skills to the visitors.
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I was at the colloquium myself, whwre i took part in the youth forum. We touched on the various thematic areas which had to do with Migratin, gender equality, womens leadership, education, adolescent sexual reproductive health and so much more. I was very glad when the youth recmmendation was read out by a young person as well. I commend H.E Ellen Sirleaf, and her co convenors of the colloquium, who have made it a suuccess. Not forgetting the male heads of states as well. In the end all we call fi=or is partnership with men , then women can be empowered and move on. Thank you.
do you have any pictures from the colloquium, i cant find any pictures on the internet , wish o could have been in liberia at that time but is seems nobody to any pics or posted any video on youtube , if anybody has any please send me some would love to see the happenings in liberia at that time, thanks windsorca27@aol.com
I'm not too sure; maybe I'm too critical of our president. But didn't we just emerge from a 14 year civil war? Isnt our entire country in a wrought? What use is an empowered female in a country where the entire population is downtrodden? Doesn't our entire population, (yes including our so-called leaders) need empowering? Why is it that this president always picks and chooses which groups of people in our country deserve rehabilitating and reconciliation? When the entire country needed healing, she chose only to mediate peace between the Doe and Johnson families. And when the entire country needed a closure to the ills of the war by the way of their president going before the TRC in public, instead after a year of dodging it, she sneaked in to the TRC headquarters and gave a private testimony. Now here we are, in a country where everyone suffers from the repercussions of war, in a country teetering on the edge of oblivion and at a time when a rescue plan is needed for the entire country, she once again choose a certain group of people within the country to uplift while the rest of the population is going down the drain. Could the states resources used to host this colloquium have been used for a better cause? By the way, what does the human rights record of Liberia look like? I mean, we only had a female vice president, a couple of female presidential candidates, a few female cabinet ministers and legislatures and not to mention the first female president on the continent in modern African history! How bad did we really need this colloquium? By the way again, weren't the most blatant women and children rights abuses occur at a certain time (let's say the period of 1989 to 2003) in our country and that the perpetuators were financed by a certain female who is currently the president and also co-hostess of a female empowering colloquium? And on the first day of this colloquium, another individual who is a chairman and ceo of a NGO (let's call it the Forum to Bring War Crime Tribunal to Liberia and him Mulbah Morlu) staged a peaceful rally in order to bring those human rights abusers to justice, but instead of being supported was arrested by the law enforcement agents in the administration of this current president and now co-hostess of a women empowering colloquium? I guess the main question is why would someone who goes through this much trouble to try to convince the world that she is a human right activist, doesn't take the next step of actually holding human right abusers responsible for their crimes? I guess only if, of course, that person herself IS a human right abuser and everything she is doing now is an elusion to try to conceal that fact. Just something to think about. Once again, the Iron Lady strikes, smiling in our faces and calling us stupid behind our backs. This lady has definitely got her priorities confused.
I am sitting in the middle of a direct hit from the global economic crisis that began in my country (USA). I was so grateful to see the women of the world, led by the women of Liberia, continuing to look forward where the solutions will be found for each of us. This is not a time to get caught up in the problem and it was good to see strong women continuing to work on empowerment. This effort truly reaches all of us no matter what nation, city, town or economic conditions we live in and insures that the future will be better for those who follow. Empowerment for all people is not based on income...it is based on heart. Thank you Liberia.