Monrovia- Coalition of Liberia will on Friday, December 14, 2018 recognize several individuals and institutions for their outstanding performance and contributions to forest governance and leadership in Liberia.
The award categories include, Best Human Rights Award, Leadership Award, Forest & Environmental Media Award, Gender Award, International Advocacy award and Governance & Reform Award.
The Forest Governance Awards Ceremony will be held at 6:30pm at the Ballroom of Corina Hotel in Sinkor. The December 14, award program is the first of its kind since the establishment of the NGO Coalition 15 years ago.
The NGO Coalitions of Liberia is the premier body of organizations working within the natural resource sector of Liberia. It is a broad-based advocate and professional disciplined mother organization of over 20 civil society organizations working to promote forest governance’s principles and applications in Oil palm, REDD+, Land rights as well as the VPA-FLEGT processes in Liberia.
Among other things, the Coalition strengthens the voices and influence of forest communities in enhancing natural resource governance in Liberia. It is credited for creating a media advocacy campaign on the proliferation and systematic abuse of Private Use Permits (PUPs), a campaign that contributed to government’s decision to place moratorium on logging activities under PUP, and subsequently led to the closure of the PUP.
The advocacy history of the NGO Coalition dates back in 2003 when it campaigned for the inclusion of natural resource and human rights issues on the agenda of the Accra Peace Agreement (CPA). The Friday Award is part of a campaign to encourage other decision makers to join hands with the Coalition to push for transparency and accountability in forest governance with the aims to protect communities’ benefits and rights under the Social Agreements (SA).