Monrovia — The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection has trained over fifty Directors, Coordinators, and Technical Staff of the Gender and Social Inclusion Unit (GSIU) from five implementing government ministries involved in the Liberia Women Empowerment Project (LWEP) under Component 4.
The Liberia Women Empowerment Project is a five-year, US$44.6 million initiative implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection through a Project Management Unit, funded by the World Bank.
The training, held at the Corina Hotel in Monrovia from August 22-23, 2024, aims to strengthen public institutions involved in the project's implementation to advance gender equality and women's empowerment in Liberia.
The event brought together and enhanced the capacities of approximately 50 technical staff from the Ministries of Agriculture (MOA), Education (MOE), Internal Affairs (MIA), Health (MOH), and Finance and Development Planning (MFDP). The training focused on key areas including gender mainstreaming, monitoring and evaluating project outputs and outcomes, conducting gender analysis using recognized frameworks, and understanding Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response mechanisms.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Gender, the Director for Research and Statistics at the Ministry, Samuel Ekyinabah, stated that achieving gender equality, a focus of the project, is a gradual process. He highlighted the shift in tasks that were traditionally gender-specific, noting that such duties are now being performed collectively by both genders.
"I want to encourage and challenge our participants to take advantage of the knowledge gained through this training and positively impact society. These small steps matter a lot," Mr. Ekyinabah said.
At the conclusion of the training, participants expressed their gratitude to the government through the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection for organizing the event. They individually shared their experiences with the media.
The Director for the Gender and Social Inclusion Unit (GSIU) at the Ministry of Agriculture, Madam Catera Woods, emphasized that one major aspect of gender-based violence often overlooked in society is attempted rape. "The most dangerous form of rape is attempted rape because once you make an attempt, the victim becomes vulnerable to self-harm due to the trauma," she stated.
She also pledged to use the knowledge acquired during the training to mentor others at the Ministry and to train farmers across the country about the different forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
The GSIU Director for the Ministry of Health, Madam Quitina Cooper-Davis, also shared her thoughts, noting that the training was timely and would enhance the way GSIUs at various government institutions work together and identify different forms of violence.
"The awareness of these types of violence is not at the level the government or even the public desires, which is why some still consider them customary," she said. Madam Davis recommended that the government increase efforts to raise awareness about different forms of violence and the consequences for perpetrators.
She further advocated for empowering women, who are often most vulnerable to social and economic violence. According to her, empowering women and girls will make them self-reliant and stable, reducing their exposure to such violence from male counterparts.
"If a woman or girl is economically empowered, people tend to label her by associating her name with her business, like 'Mary the bread seller' or 'Ma Korpo the mechanic,"' she observed.
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Additionally, the GSIU Director at the Ministry of Education, Madam Lorpu G. Mannah, promised to champion the training of others with the knowledge acquired, aiming to spread the message to all government high schools to reduce Gender-Based Violence in educational institutions.
She urged the Liberian government, with support from international partners, to decentralize the training in the remaining 14 political subdivisions. "Taking this kind of training to other counties will educate those who may not be aware of the existence of gender-based violence in schools," she added.
Madam Mannah also recommended that the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection engage international partners, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), to implement a Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Policy for the protection of all genders.
