6.3. Liberian government in post-conflict development: enhancing women’s peacebuilding and
6.3.2. Strengthening women’s participation in SSR and TRC processes
179
representation has been on for 10 years now, but it kept being pushed under the table.
First we pushed for 30/70 in the Constitution review, and since this proposal is in consideration, we are now more assertive in demanding for 50/50. Given our current demand, a Gender Parity Bill, supported by her Excellency has now been tabled before the Senate for due consideration in the Constitutional Review. Truth is, this 50/50 proposal has sparked debates and is viewed by some of our male counterparts as well as some women to be too ambitious, immense, and undemocratic a request. But as women, we cannot relent in our efforts, especially with the next presidential elections just around the corner.
Most research participants expressed the same view, highlighting the requisite for women’s political representation in Liberia’s emerging democracy. Particularly, UI-5 and UI-7 (July 2015) stressed the material value of having numeric and quality balance of women in leadership and governance processes. Having such symmetry remains one of the vehicles for awareness raising, recognitive and collaborative efforts, confidence and skills building, which are boosts for attaining sustainable post-conflict processes. Besides, one of the recommendations of from the five year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action 1995 on gender equality at the twenty-third Special Session of the UN General Assembly in June 2000, was a call on governments to “set and encourage the use of explicit short- and long-term time-bound targets or measurable goals, including, where appropriate, quotas to promote progress towards gender balance in all areas, and particularly in decision- making” (United Nations Report 2000). In recognition of this revision vis-à-vis the reality on the ground in Liberia, an important aspect alluded to by the research participants for was that women’s organizations are indispensable role players in advocating and urging the fulfilment of such reference and promoting the meaningful participation of women in the arena of political and public leadership.
180
government, the UN peace operating unit, and civil society organizations in Liberia have been collaboratively engaged in overseeing the SSR processes and continue to assume the collective responsibility of ensuring security reform and transformation. Speaking of the progress achieved in this domain of security transition, Wild and Brown (2013:193) affirm there have been rational upsurge in the inclusion and representation of women across board the different national security service agencies - private and public alike, particularly the national police and armed forces operating institutions in Liberia. Likewise, Liberia has established a special protection unit for women and children within the police, largely operated by women and a few men principally trained to handle cases of gender based violence (Bastick and Whitman 2013:11). Tasked with providing women and children special alternative to justice institutions, this unit has greatly raised and increased community awareness on women’s rights and issues of sexual violence (Bastick and Whitman 2013:11).
As further maintained by Bastick and Whitman, it has also created an environment where victims of gender and sexual violence have become assertive in reporting such sexual offences perpetrated against them. The operationalization of the Women and Children Protection Section (WACPS) programme in all the fifteen County capitals of the country (de Carvalho and Schia 2009:1) is indicative of progress in the arena of security developments in post- conflict Liberia. According to some participants from the FGDs, the presence of WACPS initiative provides them as well as young Liberian women with a sense of security. Moreover, narratives from the four FGDs (July 2015) denoted that SGBV is a reality for a number of women and girls in Liberia, as participants asserting that:
At the grassroots level where we are, domestic violence and rape is existent. As organizations of women working to empower women and girls and ourselves, we try to create an environment that is secured for us and our young girls through raising awareness, counselling, and capacity training. We also create same consciousness among our men and young men/boys, and through mobilization, dramas, role-play/acting, street theatres, solution/problem-solving workshops, we try to dissuade them from carrying out acts of rape and violence against women, while also encouraging the victims and survivors of such violence to report the cases to Women and Children Protection Units in the Counties, community elders, or the nearest police station. So far, we know of a few cases that were reported and some of the perpetrators were brought to book; other cases where not even investigated; and others are still pending on the long list of cases.
181
Aside from these narratives from FGD participants and personal observations, recognition of such endeavours were also made by viewing the pictures of past activities posted on the walls of these organizations’ working spaces and training centres. The study also construed that by accomplishing different activities, women’s organizations are in this manner facilitating the purpose and work of WACPS. Albeit this, the issue remains that WACPS, like most initiatives for change, is confronted by several drawbacks; including incoherence and the question of what happens after a crime has been reported (de Carvalho and Schia 2009:2), among others.
On several levels, the promise by the Liberian Government to empower women, has also seen the commissioning of strategies to foster women’s participation within the agenda of reconciliation. In 2012 for example, the Government’s peacebuilding office within the Ministry of Internal Affairs together with its partners and relevant stakeholders to the agenda for peace and transformation in Liberia, established an eighteen year (2012 to 2030) Strategic Roadmap for National Healing, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation. Being a multifaceted process, this policy is contextualized and defined by twelve thematic processes classified under three strategic action plans, namely:
i. Accounting for the past;
ii. Managing the present challenges; and
iii. Planning for the future (the Ministry of Internal Affairs et.al 2012:2).
Thus, the Roadmap is concerned with the rebuilding of relationships destroyed as a result of the conflict, fostering coherence among different actors, as well as transforming social, economic and political institutions in order to ensure effective and sustainable reconciliation.
The implementation of this strategic plan takes on a bottom-up and an inclusive people- centred approach to strengthen participation and ownership of the processes by Liberians (Ministry of Internal Affairs et.al 2012:8), and the women are key influencers in bottom-up processes. The structures implementing actions to sustain Liberia’s national reconciliation and peacebuilding process are composed of the various Government Ministries and consortiums, UN agencies, and civil society organizations, including especially women
182
organizations at all levels of society. Looking at the Strategic Roadmap on Reconciliation, the ‘Women Psychosocial Recovery and Empowerment’ component is imperative for addressing women’s issues and needs; empowering them to access livelihood opportunities and build capacity; and fostering their role as key players in Liberia’s national peacebuilding agenda (PBSO/PBF 2013:9). The Liberian government as well as the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office/Peacebuilding Fund (PBSO/PBF 2013:9) also underscore the importance of supporting women’s economic empowerment for the end result of restorative and social justice. With the Ministry of Gender as the principal implementer of the Women Psychosocial Recovery and Empowerment52 project, UI-4 (July 2015) in agreement with the report by the Ministry of Internal Affairs et.al (2012), highlighted some areas of strategic developments to include:
i. Implementation of socio-economic rehabilitation initiatives and programmes for women and girls engaged in commercial sex for subsistence purposes in Liberia’s major cities;
ii. Advancement of the WACPS in Liberian National Police and the reinforcement of the Judicial systems’ role in according women victims and survivors of SGBV more access to justice;
iii. Progress in ensuring that women across Liberia, especially the rural women have access to livelihood/economic opportunities, and building their capacity and entrepreneurial skills; and
iv. Establishment and operationalization of women peace and dialogue commissions to mitigate and transform conflict matters, especially at the local level through traditional structures of conflict resolution like the peace/palava huts initiatives.
52 It is of great importance to underline that the ‘Women Psychosocial Recovery and Empowerment’ component of the Roadmap is just one among the government’s strategic policies and action plans for implementing Liberia’s national recovery and peacebuilding agenda in accordance with the directives of UNSCR 1325 on WPS.
183
6.3.3. Addressing women’s interests through the adoption of national policies and