Monrovia – A consortium of women groups have expressed dissatisfaction over being left out of the civic voters education exercise recently commissioned by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
Report by Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, [email protected]
The National Coordinator of the WANEP/WIPNET Madam Victoria Wollie said her organization feels disenfranchised by the manner in which civil society organizations were selected by the NEC and the United Nations Development Programme as partners to carryout voters’ civic education on the pending election.
Terming as questionable and marginalization, Madam Wollie recalled that here organization had an agreement with UNDP in previous election that UNDP in which UNDP supported 95 women groups to carry out civic voters education, but they were left out of the exercise for the ensuing elections.
“In particular, voter’s registration and civic education in general, remain very critical components of any electoral process; we are concerned that women and even other members of the public will be denied the opportunity to make their voices heard,” said Madam Wollie.
“Today we want to register our disappointment over the marginalization of women’s institutions/organizations in the selection of groups to conduct civic and voter’s registration exercise in 2017. “
“Even though several women organizations accredited by the NEC applied for the grant being administered by UNDP/NEC did not see it expedient to include qualified women organizations as grantees despite their years of experience working around electoral processes in Liberia,” she added.
The National Coordinator requested that the international partners and donors to hold the UNDP and National Elections Commission accountable for the lack of gender sensitivity in the selection process.
“We are of the conviction that the selection process was not based on merit but friendship and favoritism, since the election committee was an all-male one.”
She added that the role of women in securing peace and supporting the rebuilding process of the country cannot be over-emphasized, yet they have been discriminated against and marginalized in the society.
Madam Wollie named Pentecostal Mission Union, Accountability Lab, the Institute for Research and Democratic Development, the National Center for Excellence and Creativity are male-led civil organizations, adding that four of the organizations are not involved in democracy.
She said the attitude of NEC/ UNDP was unfortunate and called on Government and international partners to ensure gender sensitivity in all aspects of the up-coming electoral process.
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