The GREAT Inititiative - Gender Right & Equality Trust

The GREAT Initiative Trip to Liberia

To fully understand the challenges that African women face every day and how carefully nurtured projects can change their lives and those of their children and communities, there is no better way than to travel and meet the women themselves. To this end, The GREAT Initiative went on a trip to Liberia from 28th to 31st March with a selected group of women supporters.

Overview

The GREAT Initiative Trustees and their fellow travellers were able to meet with women from the political and charitable worlds, and from grassroots women’s groups too. They were able to witness the impact of their work, and also have the opportunity to reflect on the progress that still needs to be made.

The Gender Rights & Equality Action Trust was also most proud to announce that we also enjoyed the special privilege of meeting with H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, who is highly regarded for her own work focused towards issues of gender equality in this country.

The ultimate goal of this trip is to raise awareness of gender imbalance alongside the launch of The GREAT Initiative.

The trip will be documented through photography, film and participants’ travel diaries, all of which will appear here.

Background

One of FAS’s areas of focus is the Mano River region in Liberia – a part of the country that has been devastated by a long civil war. In Liberia, women played a vital role in bringing about peace, and have been acclaimed by the international community for their achievements. Liberia, like most African countries, certainly still faces strong gender disparities – however, since the election of its President, H.E. Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, at the end of the civil war, a deep commitment to promoting gender equality has moved to the forefront of the country’s political process.

Itinerary

The trip  included:

• Audience with Liberia’s President H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• Meetings with prominent members of the government, including with the Minister of Gender Honourable Vabah Gayflor and other female leading policy makers.
• Meetings with leading women’s NGOs: MARWOPNET (Mano River Women’s Peace Network) and WIPNET (Women in Peacebuilding Network) who both played a key role in the peaceful resolution of the civil war and have won a civil rights award for their achievements, WONGOSOL (Women’s NGO Secretariat of Liberia), AFELL (Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia) and ABIC (Angie Brooks International Centre).
• Meeting members of the UN Special female security units, women from the Sirleaf Market Women Fund, the Women Democracy Radio station, and Oxfam’s Virtuous Women’s Cooperative.
• Meetings with the participants of the ‘Women Led Business’ programme, an economic empowermenent module managed by our partner FAS.

Visit our News & Events section to read articles and stories about this trip.