Liberia: Gov’t of Sweden Donates Vehicles to Human Rights Commission

Monrovia –  The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has donated several logistical items including three land cruiser vehicles and six motorcycles to the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) of Liberia. 

Others include office equipment and furniture.

The donation was made by the Swedish Government through its Ambassador accredited to Liberia, Ingrid Wetterqvist on Wednesday, October 23, at the official launch of the project, “Strengthening the Capacity of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights of Liberia.”

Amb. Wetterqvist said the purpose of Sweden’s support is to help the INCHR fulfill its mandate of improving the human rights of every citizen and people residing in Liberia.

She stressed that human rights are a ‘big part of the Swedish development strategy and fundamental for any country’s sustainable development.

Speaking further, she said Sweden welcomes and encourages the Liberian Government’s budgetary allocation to the INCHR to pay for its core costs to allow the institution plan its mandate independent of outside assistance.

With the support of Sweden, she expressed hope that the work of INCHR will reach outside of Monrovia and to all counties.

In addition, she also called for inclusion of women and girls in all of INCHR’s activities

“Sweden has a feminist foreign policy and we know that we need to put extra effort to the rights of women and girls,” she said.

“We will not be satisfied until every woman and girl have the same access to fundamental human rights as the rest of the population.”

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the main channel for the capacity building support to INCHR.

In 2017, the United Nations and Liberia signed the ‘Host Country Agreement’ which allows the establishment of OHCHR office in Liberia to work with the government of Liberia through consulting and assisting the national institutions to protect and promote human rights.

The OHCHR has been the channel through which the Swedish Government supports the INCHR to strengthen its capacity. 

A milestone of this partnership between Sweden and the OHCHR is a US$4.9 million agreement aimed at strengthening the capacity of the INCHR.

Through the support, Amb. Wetterqvist noted that her country looks forward to among other things, seeing the INCHR build its capacity to fulfill its mandate of monitoring and reporting human rights. And as well as enhancing accountability of duty bearers and access to remedy for rights holders.

Also speaking at the event, the UN Resident Coordinator, Kingsley Amaning, called on Liberia to support human rights as the Swedish Government supports the process. 

Mr. Amaning said the 21st Century was the time to form a united front in promoting peace and human rights.

For his part, OHCHR’s Country Representative, Uchenna Emelonye hailed the Swedish Government for the support and recommitted OHCHR’s support to Liberia in meeting its human rights obligations.

Meanwhile, the Acting Chairperson of INCHR Bartholomew B. Colley, thanked Sweden and OHCHR for the support in strengthening the INCHR capacity to implement its mandate.

Some of the milestone achievements of the project so far, according to the INCHR include the recruitment and deployment of regional coordinators and county monitors and the release of over 100 pretrial detainees between 2018 and 2019, including the release of 54 in September 2019 alone.

The project is also supporting the Commission to prepare and submit quarterly and annual report on the human rights situation in Liberia. In addition, it will support field-based research for the Commission’s annual thematic report and support the release of incidence reports.