Monrovia – As part of efforts in observance of the 16 days of Activism Funding Leadership Opportunities for Women (FLOW) through it implementing partners Youth Coalition for Education in Liberia YOCEL, Foundation for Community Initiative FCI, Women NGO Secretariat WONGOSOL, National Institute for Public Opinion NIPO and Organization for Women and Children (ORWOCH) on Friday December 8, 2017 held an awareness campaign.
Thet National theme: Let’s embrace our diversities for safe Education and a violent free society” of the 16 days of activism on Violence Against Women and the elimination of gender – based violence with support from Oxfam through funding from the Netherlands Government.
The awareness campaign was held at selected location in Monrovia Old Road Market, Nancy B Doe Market, Rally Town Market, Matilda Newport and PHP Community.
Making remarks before the awareness campaign the Country Director of Oxfam Liberia Anne-Catherine Bajard applause the implementing organization for coming together as joint partners to carry out the awareness.
She added that the issue of gender-based violence is an everyday issue that affect the lives of women and people should now see and read the statistic in Liberia as an everyday issue that exist.
She disclosed that gender-based violence are often used interchangeably and call on all mini Liberian including men to join the effort in ensuring that it is eliminated she also recognized some of the barriers such as traditional norm and practices, impunity and poverty.
Also speaking was Loretta Alethea Pope Kai from FCI who mentioned that we need to do more on community and stakeholder engagement to ensure that victims and perpetrators understand the important of protecting women’s rights and the available mechanism and procedure to follow in addressing their issue.
Speaking earlier, Beatrice Newland a lead coordinator on the FLOW project revealed that GBV is a pervasive problem that needs to be address, she indicated that gender –based violence has limited women’s abilities to actualize their full potential and also has an impact on public health, economic stability, and security of a country.
The awareness brought together 28 volunteers form each organization (M: 8, F: 20) and later became agent of change ambassadors during the awareness campaign.
The Agent of change ambassador during the awareness campaign realized that major of those marketers had little knowledge on gender-based violence issues and the available platform in addressing those issues.
Speaking during the awareness campaign Madam Martha a marketer of the rally town market asserted that her late husband use to beat on her in the present of her children but right now her daughter and her boyfriend are always fighting so what can I do?
An agent of change ambassador encouraged Ma. Martha to firstly engage the both of them on a roundtable, if the situation is still ongoing get the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection – Gender section involved.
According to the data by the United Nations Population Division, women make up 49.60 percent of the population which indicate that women’s are the second most populated group that make up the population thus, this percentage need to draw the attention of our government to do more in reducing the gaps.
Women are key driver to sustainable development and stability and need to be given more attention also in order to reduce gender-based violence women economic empowerment need to be prioritized.
The strategic outcome of this awareness is to ensure that women are adequately informed of issues that affect them and possible way out in finding solution.
The team directly engages 700 women including men from the various areas that were selected.