Female Legislative Caucus of Liberia Inducts New Leadership

Monrovia – The Female Legislative Caucus of Liberia has inducted its new corps of officers to steer the affairs of the body for the next three years.

Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]

At the Ceremony held in the rotunda of the Capitol Building on Tuesday, May 15, the newly inducted Chairperson of the Caucus, Rep. Rosanna G.D. H. Schaack (Rivercess County Dist.#1) outlined that working with their male counterparts to ensure the passage of several bills that have been languishing in committee rooms.

The bills include the Domestic Violence, the Land Rights and the Affirmative Action bills as well as the Constitution Review Procedures.

“With the low number of women representation in the Legislature, the challenge on hand for the caucus is getting the support of our male counterparts to work with us for the greater good of our constituents,” she said.

“Presently, there are several bills still in committee rooms pending passage and we commit that we will do our utmost best to bring those bills back on the floor for discussion and passage.”

The Domestic Violence bill seeks to address many critical domestic and gender-based violence issues including physical, emotional, verbal and psychological and verbal abuses and making Female Genital Mutilation illegal and punishable by law.

The Land Rights Bill introduced in the Legislature since 2014 among other things, called for the community to have total rights to their land, while the Affirmative Action Bill wants 30 percent of the seat to be occupied by women.

Hon. Shaack commended Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, the immediate past Chairperson of the Female Legislative Caucus, the leadership of the Legislature and UN Women for their support and pledged her leadership commitments “in making the voices of women heard loud and clear at the Legislature, in our districts, nationally and internationally.”

The program was graced by top government officials including the Vice President, who served as guest speaker and induction officer, House Speaker Dr. Bhofal Chambers, Senate Pro-Temp, Albert Chea and scores of foreign partners.

VP Taylor congratulated the Women Legislative Caucus and pledged her commitment to working with them in achieving their objectives.

Speaker Chambers stressed the need for building women’s capacity and also pledged his support to the female Legislators.

For his part, the Senate Pro-temp noted that he accepted the Domestic Violence Bill but disagreed that FGM is a form of domestic violence.