General
Source: The Inquirer
The United Nations Women(UNWomen) with support from the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office has handover a vehicle for use by the Ministry of Gender and Development under the women Community Based Peacebuilding and Economic Empowerment project.
Speaking at the handover ceremony yesterday at Gender Ministry, Mr. Peterson Magoola, Officer-In-Charge and Deputy Country Representative of UN Women recognized and congratulate the tremendous progress Liberia is making towards recovery and efforts towards the achievement of the MDGs particularly in areas of Gender Equality, and the advancement of women's rights and empowerment.
Mr. Magoola said in Liberia, as in many places, gender inequality and women's marginalization continues to be entrenched in traditional and religious perceptions portraying women as the weaker gender.
He said there is high socio-cultural tolerance for female subordination and male superiority, which enhance disparities noting that these socio-cultural attitudes, sustained and maintained by cultural systems of socialization, are transferred and perpetuated through families, schools, communities and workplaces, and limit women's participation in leadership and decision making at all levels of society.
The UN Official said "with funding from the UN Peacebuilding Support Office, UN Women was at the ministry to demonstrate its continued commitment to supporting the government efforts in addressing the plight of over four thousand vulnerable women and girls by assigning to the Gender Ministry the vehicle, primarily to be used in the field for the implementation.
He said over the next twelve months, the vehicle will be routinely visiting twenty three rural communities in six counties namely Grand Bassa, Grand Gedeh, Gbarpolou, Sinoe, Grand Cape Mount and Bomi where the Ministry of Gender and Development and UN Women are jointly working.
Mr. Magoola noted that this form of transport will helpthe project team to increase community security and peace by enhancing access and leadership capacities of rural women as key stakeholders in generating a greater demand for justice and improved accountability to women's human rights in Liberia.
For her part, Gender and Development Minister Julia Duncan Cassell said the project is a pilot one that can be expanded once the first phase is carried out with good result. She noted that land, peace and security are issues that concern women which the project intends to address.
Minister Cassell mandated the peace building office at the Ministry to work with UN Women for the success of the project, saying, "Whenwomen benefit from a project like this everybody benefit."
Earlier Madam Doris Saydee, Project Coordinator at the Ministry of Gender and Development gave an overview of the project permanent among which is to improve Women income earning potential and control over financial resources as well as increase women trader's sense of security and confidence in the security sector.