Monrovia – Ahead of the commemoration of Armed Forces Day, February 11 this year, the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) is encouraging females around the country to have courage and join the military.
According to AFL, the percentage of women in the force has dropped “greatly”. In 2011, the percentage of women in the army was 8% but has now dropped to 3.2%.
Speaking at the Ministry of Information press briefing on Thursday, AFL Chief of Staff, Major General Prince Charles Johnson stressed the need for women to eliminate all stereotypes against them.
“You know it is the perception of our people; it is their understanding that the military is a man dominated institution and we’re trying to see how best we can change that perception of our people,” said Major Gen. Johnson.
The chief of staff of the AFL used the occasion to call on all interested females to see his deputy, General Geraldine George as an example to emulate.
“She went through the ranks and files of the military; to reach at the second in command of the AFL, it means that sooner or later we will have a female serving as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia. So, if she can do it, you too can do the same,” Johnson said.
According to the United Nations’ policy on the deployment of troops, specifically resolution 1325, contributing countries to UN Missions must have 15 percent women deployed. Of the three countries that the AFL is deployed in, it has 8% in Mali, 100% in Sudan and in South Sudan there is 50%.
The Chief of Staff said even though the percentage of deployed females out of Liberia may seem high, there is still a need for more women to express interest in the army to avoid deployment of the same people every time.
“If we don’t have more females coming, we will have to deploy some of these females like repeatedly and that will not be good for them and that is why we are encouraging more females,” General Johnson explained.
At the same time, the Minister of Defense, Retired Major Gen. Daniel Ziankahn also disclosed that to reduce the fears of females concerning the physical aspect of the recruitment process, the Ministry in collaboration with the AFL will introduce a pre- training exercise before the recruitment process.
“You know one of the major things they are afraid of, is the physical aspect so we will be conducting a pre training exercise for the females that will be coming; pushups, sit-ups, running and just everything,” disclosed Minister Ziankahn, who added that it has been proven over the years that women tend to handle weapons better than their male counterparts.
“Since we’ve been in the military and even the chief of staff can attest [to] that, and service has shown that there are two things that men will not do more than women in the military. When it comes to shooting, the females are very good at that but most females tend to be afraid of the weapons and sit-ups – because women have very strong stomach,” he explained.
“To be eligible to be enlisted into the AFL, you have to be a Liberian between the ages of 18-35 with at least a high school diploma,” the Chief of Staff said.
He added that applicants will have to sit and pass a medical, physical and aptitude test; and a vetting process will have to be carried out on each applicant based on his/her behavior in the community.