Monrovia – It was a room full of men from various government ministries, agencies, state owned enterprises and civil society organizations.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, [email protected]
It was the first of its kind in Liberia for men to discuss gender equality and women empowerment at a seminar.
The “All Men Conference” was held under the theme “Liberian men: Stepping it up for gender equality.”
At the conference, Gender Minister Julia Duncan Cassell said the purpose of the conference was to elevate the advocacy of gender equality and women empowerment that would encourage men to join the “HeForShe Champions”.
She added that men will engage other men to solicit and increase the support of men’s involvement to promote and encourage gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Cassell said the men should find a way forward on how the Liberian society and stakeholders can properly strategise in fighting gender based violence and encourage women empowerment.
She said these mechanisms would avert another woman, another girl and another child from being abused, from being raped and being deprived of living as a result of gender inequality.
“We believe that an essential way of engaging men, who are believed to be the primary violators of women’s rights, is to strengthen their knowledge of women’s issues by creating the platform to listen to their views and solicit partnership with them.
She continued: “Gender equality should not be a woman’s concern but the responsibility of all individuals and that of the society, and requires the active contribution and input from women and men.”
Cassell said in the past, gender equality policies have been contextualized mainly as women’s issue.
She added that the men could agree with her that there is a crucial role for men in building gender equality as equal partners with women.
Cassell states: “In order to improve the status of women and promote gender equality, more attention should be paid to how men are involved in the achievement of gender equality.”
There were several panellists including former senate Pro-Tempore Gbezongar Findley, Program lead, Access to Information, Carter Center’s Thomas Doe-Nah, Dean of Louis Arthur Grimes School Cllr. Negbalee Warner, and former Country Director- Right to Play Timothy Paulus.
Cllr. Warner said men should recognize gender equality, domestic violence and sexual and gender based violence (SGBV).
He added that there is no way that gender based violence can be solved if men cannot solve gender equality.
“Perception must be worked on, because we as men spend more time discussing gender equality instead of gender based violence,” he stated.
“SGBV is a primitive idea and must not be encouraged by all men. Also, we have to look at what constitutes domestic violence. So in short we must do knowledge building,” Warner said.