Feminist Alliance and Women’s Rights Organizations Commend Allocation to Safe Homes, Urge Swift Legislative Approval of Supplemental Budget

The Feminist Alliance, alongside a coalition of women’s rights organizations in Liberia, commends the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, for the allocation of USD 150,000 toward safe homes as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen services addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).

The Alliance also acknowledges the critical role of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for convening and participating in the engagement, and for consistently creating space for civil society organizations (CSOs) to contribute meaningfully to national policy and budget advocacy processes. This collaboration reflects the importance of inclusive governance in addressing SGBV.

Safe homes remain a vital pillar in the national response to SGBV, providing survivors with immediate protection, secure shelter, psychosocial support, and access to justice pathways. This allocation reflects an important acknowledgment of the urgent need to invest in survivor-centered services across the country.

This milestone follows sustained advocacy and evidence-based engagement with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning by the Feminist Alliance and its partners. Budget analyses conducted over the years (2019–2023) and a review of the 2024/2025 national budget revealed persistent gaps, including limited and inconsistent government financing for SGBV services, heavy reliance on donor funding, and significant underinvestment in safe homes and comprehensive survivor support systems. Against this backdrop, the current allocation is both timely and necessary.

While welcoming this progress, the Feminist Alliance emphasizes that USD 150,000 represents an initial step and must be significantly scaled to adequately meet the needs of survivors nationwide. Sustainable and expanded financing remains essential to building a resilient and accessible support system.

The Alliance calls on the National Legislature to urgently approve the supplemental budget, ensuring that this allocation is realized without delay. Timely legislative action is critical to translating this commitment into functional and accessible services for survivors across Liberia.

Furthermore, the Feminist Alliance and its partners call for:

Timely and transparent disbursement of allocated funds

Increased and sustained domestic financing for SGBV services

The establishment of dedicated budget lines for SGBV services across relevant line ministries

A coordinated, sector-wide approach to funding services and combating SGBV

Addressing SGBV requires deliberate, sustained investment in systems that protect, support, and empower survivors. The Feminist Alliance and women’s rights organizations remain committed to working collaboratively with both the Executive and the Legislature to ensure that national budgets reflect the lived realities and urgent needs of women and girls across Liberia.