UNMIL PR 38
Monrovia, Liberia - The UN Envoy in Liberia, Ms. Ellen Margrethe Løj, has joined Liberia's Vice-President, Ambassador Joseph Boakai in calling for the further advancement of women's rights in post-conflict Liberia. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) was speaking at Monrovia City Hall, at the start of a five-day National Women's Conference organized by the Liberian Government, with support from the United Nations family and other partners in the country, under the theme, 'Advancing Women's Human Rights in Peace-building, Recovery and Development Processes in Liberia'.
'The advancement of women and women's rights should be the central theme in all development efforts in our fight against poverty,' said Vice-President Boakai, focusing on the links between women's empowerment and poverty reduction.
'Peace building, recovery and development processes require real justice for women in accordance with international human rights standards,' the Vice-President pointed out. He called for the removal of all discriminatory laws against women, the formulation of new gender equality laws and the strengthening of relevant institutions that serve women.
SRSG Løj threw out a challenge to the organizers of the National Women's Conference to take the message of women's empowerment and the advancement of women's rights to the community level. 'When discussing these issues, ensure that they are not only discussed with intellectual women in Monrovia; make sure that all women of Liberia are involved in these efforts,' the UN Envoy emphasized.
Referring to the current worldwide increases in food prices, the SRSG said, 'I think, it is an urgent challenge for women in Liberia to see how to be more involved in the agricultural sector.' She then urged Liberian women to increase food production to feed their families.
Ms. Løj called on conference participants to come out with a national action plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, dealing with women, peace and security. 'The Government of Liberia has started the process to develop the success strategy; why don't you make Liberia the first country in Africa that has a national strategy for the implementation of resolution 1325 since your government has shown a clear commitment to the empowerment of women,?' she urged.
The week-long National Women's Conference is bringing together about 300 Liberian women from all over the country. The conference aims to critically assess the role of grassroots women, women's organizations and government in ensuring that issues, such as, security, sexual violence, education, health, agriculture and participation in local governance will be addressed.
Attending the opening session were senior members of the UN family, cabinet ministers and other officials of government, members of the Diplomatic Corps, local women leaders, female traditional and religious leaders, members of civil society organisation and NGOs.