President Sirleaf waits to greet her guests arriving for an event. (Photo Courtesy Boakai M.Fofana/AllAfrica)

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hosted a one-day Women's Leadership Retreat in Paynesville on Saturday, and challenged Liberian women to assume leadership roles at all levels. The President said she would support the principle of women competing with men and taking up elected positions at various levels, including leadership roles in political parties in the country.

"We want to see women in politics at all levels. It is not just for President. We are talking about going down there, taking county leadership, political party leadership at the county level, at the district level, community levels and standing out in your communities," the President urged more than hundred women from all levels of Liberian society.

According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader noted that it would be difficult for women to make an impact in competitive leadership positions if they have not demonstrated their potential at the entry levels of national leadership, particularly at the local levels.

President Johnson Sirleaf spoke Saturday, August 7, at a Retreat, the theme of which was "Women and Leadership: Our Time to Lead." The workshop, held at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex, identified gains made by women leaders in society and the challenges they face, and offered recommendations to overcome the challenges.

The Liberian leader urged the participants to ensure that the vision of the interactive forum should be one which would ensure that every young girl, at birth, should know that she can be whatever she wants to be without any political, legal, or social barriers. "To achieve that, we all have to work on all the issues raised here at the forum. You identified the challenges, the opportunities; what we need now is to turn them into specific strategies, time-bound roadmap, toward the achievement of specific identified goals," the President pointed out.

Participants at the retreat, moderated by Madam Leymah Gbowee, Executive Director of the Women in Peace and Security Network-Africa, identified achievements in women's leadership, over the last five years, in the provision of basic social services, including pipe-borne water, electricity, roads, shelter for the vulnerable, and a steady increase in the availability of locally grown foods on the Liberian market.

Participants also discussed the economic standing of women in Liberian society, as well as improvement in peace and security, but were quick to caution Government to ensure that women are empowered to compete with men in areas ranging from land ownership to employment based on gender equity.

The full-day event brought together prominent women leaders, among them: Montserrado County Superintendent Grace Kpan; Cllr. Yvette Chesson-Wureh, of the Angie Brooks International Center; Madam Maureen Parker, Executive Member of the National Oil Company of Liberia; Madam Mama Tumbay, Head of the Traditional Women of Liberia; Dr. Evelyn Kandakai, Executive Director of the Liberia Educational Trust (LET); Mrs. Amelia Ward, former Planning Minister of Liberia; Gender Minister Varbah Gayflor; Agriculture Minister Dr. Florence Chenoweth; Foreign Minister Olubanke King-Akerele; Mrs. Theresa Leigh-Sherman, Head of the Liberia National Red Cross Society; and Maryland County Senator Gloria Scott, among others.