Liberia's Market Women
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Photo 1 of 14Credit: Bokai Fofana/allAfrica.comApproximately 37,000 women in Liberia are engaged in marketing which remains a cornerstone of the developing economy of the post-conflict state. However, these market women face daily challenges including overcrowding, unsanitary working conditions, lack of access to health care and education for their children. -
Photo 2 of 14Credit: Phyllis Chesley/allAfrica.comBeginning operations in 2007, the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund (SMWF) was created to renew markets across the country and enhance the lives of market women through literacy training, increasing the availability of credit, providing nursery schools as well as health facilities. Here, Dr. Thelma Awori, chair of the SMWF, addresses a reception at the launch of the Adopt-a-Market Campaign. -
Photo 3 of 14Credit: Phyllis Chesley/allAfrica.comThe SMWF is a sub-fund of the African Women's Development Fund. The AWFD supports and funds organizations across the continent working towards women's empowerment. They have supported a similar market women's initiative in Sierra Leone. AWFD's co-founder and executive director, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, spoke at the launch reception. -
Photo 4 of 14Credit: Phyllis Chesely/allAfrica.comThe Adopt-a-Market Campaign allows individuals, organizations, and corporations to sponsor the renovation or construction of market facilities throughout Liberia. Held at the New York Society of Ethical Culture, the launch event included special guests Vabah Gayflor, Liberian Minister for Gender and Development, and Charles Minor, Liberian Ambassador to the Untied States. -
Photo 5 of 14Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.comItems on display for silent auction. Proceeds went directly to the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund. -
Photo 6 of 14Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.comCarol Jenkins, President of the Women's Media Center, who served as the event's Mistress of Ceremonies poses with Dorothy Davis, President of the Diasporan Touch. -
Photo 7 of 14Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.comNadine Hack, left, president of beCause Global Consulting, and Cora Weiss, president of the Hague Appeal for Peace at the reception. -
Photo 8 of 14Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.comMinister of Gender and Development Vabah Gayflor, Chair of the African Women's Development Fund Dr. Hilda Tadria, and former president of Ireland Mary Robinson converse at the event reception. -
Photo 9 of 14Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.comThe Hon. Alice M. Dear, former U.S. representative to the African Development Bank, left, with photographer Gideon Manasseh. -
Photo 10 of 14Credit: Phyllis Chesley/allAfrica.comAlso in attendance was Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who serves as an honorary co-chair of the SMWF. Robinson described the progress being made in Liberia as a "shining model" for the rest of the continent. She said that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is committed to governing with complete regard for the rights of "the poorest and most marginalized" of Liberia's people. -
Photo 11 of 14Credit: Courtney Hess/allAfrica.comLiberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first women to be elected president of an African State and the granddaughter of a market women, largely attributes her electoral success to the support of the nation's market women. Speaking at the Adopt-a-Market launch, President Sirleaf acknowledged the role market women have played in Liberia's emergence from civil war. -
Photo 12 of 14Credit: Phyllis Chesley/allAfrica.comIn attendance at the launch event were two Liberian market women. Lusu Sloan (left), the interim president of the Liberia Marketing Association, is a third generation marketer. Massa Cousli has been a market women in Monrovia since 1969. Many market women were subject to rape and gender-based violence during the nation's 14 year long civil war. Some women, including Lusu, have struggled from the loss of husbands and other family members. Despite these difficulties, market women continue to support their families, some on less than $1 a day. -
Photo 13 of 14Credit: Courtney Hess/allAfrica.comSo far, the SMWF has built or rebuilt ten markets- two in the country's capitol, Monrovia, and eight in the countryside. Here, SMWF co-treasurer Dorothy Davis presents President Sirleaf a letter signed by New York Governor David Patterson commemorating her achievements. -
Photo 14 of 14Credit: Bokai Fofana/allAfrica.comThe Sirleaf Market Women Fund hopes to renovate or build 100 markets across the country. In addition to the market facilities, the new structures will also include nurseries, centers for entrepreneurial training, health care and sanitary facilities.
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