MONROVIA – With financial support from the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in Liberia, through the EU spotlight initiative, the Liberia NGOs Network is said to have complimented four of the five counties, conducting awareness on Sexual Gender Base Violence SGBV and Female Genetic Mutilation FGM and other human rights abuses in Liberia.
Grand Cape Mont, Lofa, Nimba and Montserrado Counties are the five counties with Grand Geddeh remaining. The activities which begin in Montserrado County with a tot workshop brought several stakeholders including LINNK members together to provided broader knowledge to facilitators from the targeted counties relative to their interaction with local leaders through a dialogue meeting between the police and the traditionalists, this discussion aim at finding common ground between the police and tradition leaders on how traditional leaders should go about doing traditional activities in terms of FGM and on the police affecting their duty.
LINNK begins its five counties activities in Grand Cape Mont County with a town hall meeting bringing together local authorities, citizens and police to dialogue on the issue of SGBV and FGM. During the dialogue, several concerns were raised including conflict arising between the traditionalists and police over the way traditionalists go about conducting bush school and impact of FGM on the girl children and untimely opening for the bush that sometimes interfered with academy school calendar.
During the dialogue, traditional leaders said, at times when police officers are carrying on their duties, they do things against traditional practices, and something they said is an abomination to the tradition of the country. But through the dialogue, recommendations from traditionalists and the police on issues surrounding SGVB and FGM and other violence acts against women, children and girls and how they should work together, were brought to book to be look at by stakeholders and to be consider a resolution in support to the domestic violence act that has been signed into law by state actors over the years.
Other issues discussed during the dialogue by participants and facilitators including stakeholders in the counties range from rape, sexual abuse, FGM early marriage/teen-age pregnancy and child abuse, among others.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with reporters, the national chairman of the Liberia NGOs Network LINNK, Stephen Norman lauded the partners for making funding available for his organization to on the initiative; adding that UN/EU Spotlight Initiative thou it has being implemented by other groups in the country, but for LINNK this was the first time to get financial support and sponsorship from the United Nations Commission for Human Rights in Liberia to carry on EU Spotlight Initiative.
According to Norman, “the development partners (UN/EU) are concern about the growing wave of violence acts against women and girls and other related sexual abuse in the country; this is why they have made funding available for us to reach these counties to work with local authorities, traditional leaders and the police in finding solution to the issues of SGBV, FGM and human rights violence melted against victims and the community”
Speaking further LINNK Boss, Norman asserted that of the five counties captured in the implementation of the EU-Spotlight Initiative by LINNK, it remains with Grand Gedded County while Montserrado County is ongoing and expected to climax very soon. Norman at the same time disclosed that after the county’s dialogues meeting with traditional leaders and the police, with stakeholders, there will be a signing ceremony of the solution, in support to the Domestic Violence Act law.
