Monrovia – The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in collaboration with the Women Legislative Caucus, Women NGO Secretariat of Liberia and partners will hold a two-day National Women Conference under the theme ‘ Step It Up: Mobilizing to Bridge the Gap for Gender Equality.”
The conference will be held in Monrovia, Montserrado County from Wednesday, July 13-Thursday, July 14, 2016 with over 500 women from all spectra of life expected to be involved.
The Conference will provide an opportunity for various stakeholders to consult and address the challenges and barriers which hinder progress in achieving women’s socio-economic and political participation in Liberia, as well as identify means to advancing relevant solutions and securing commitment towards promoting gender equality.
The two-day National Women Conference will target 550 participants drawn from the following categories including political aspirants/present/past, Female leaders/present/ past, women from the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary branches of Government.
Others are women from the private and public sectors, members of the Liberia Rural women structure and other rural women groupings, academia, women from religious institutions, women Chiefs, adolescent girls and women from the Traditional Council of Liberia.
Other categories include the Liberian Media, Physically Challenged, Women NGOs, CSOs, CBOs; women from various unions (Labor; Teachers, Health workers, Traders, Musicians, Drivers, Tailors; Professionals- Lawyers, Doctors, Nurses, Engineers, environmentalists and motor-cyclists.)
According to a release the conference will highlight key objective issues including building alliances to enable women’s full participation in all spheres (economic, political and social) in decision making specifically focusing on ensuring women’s participation in the 2017 electoral process; sharing resources and building networks to enhance gender equality and developing a road map to address critical issues coming out of the conference.
Meanwhile, the two days National Women Conference which will take place in the city of Paynesville, will address key national topics including Integrating Gender in the 2017 General and Presidential Elections, Initiating the Reactivation of the Liberian Women Federation, Reviewing the Liberian Women Manifesto, Incorporating Emerging Issues and Building the Capacity of the Forum and Women Potential Leadership, Sustaining Peace and Security in the wake of UNMIL’s drawdown.