ANPPCAN Highlights Girls Power Program

The African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) Liberia is leaving no stone unturned in trumpeting the MFS II Girls Power Program to grass root communities in Grand Cape Mount and Montserrado Counties.

According to a release, the national NGO has remained solid in combing Bo Waterside, Tienii, Latia and Robertsports in Cape Mount. 

In Montserrado, it has marshaled that Cheesemanburg, Po River, Ricks, Red Hills Field, New Kru Town and Clara Town. Communities have been laced under the theme “Equal Rights and Opportunities for all Girls and Young Women.”

The program, which focuses on protection and social participation of girls and young women in the two counties, is supported by the International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI), Netherlands with funding from the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

According to Mrs. Victoria W. Daniels, Coordinator of the ANPPCAN MFS II Girls Power Program, several stakeholders including internal security, local government, traditional and religious institutions have benefitted from the capacity building training and dialogues on girls and young women protection and socio participation.

Similarly, she said that school teachers, community men and boys were also connected as partners through capacity building training and dialogues in promoting girls and young women protection and participation.

Also, she explained that several civil society organizations, community based youth groups, girls and women organizations were capacitated, thus enabling them to remain upbeat in championing the rights and participation of girls and young women in the project communities.

Mrs. Daniels noted that one key lesson learnt during the first year of the project implementation was to effectively use the positive aspect of our culture through ballets, songs and role plays in stimulating change favorably for girls and young women at the grass root level.

16 Days of Activism against GBV Challenging The Power and Control Wheel

By A. Alvin Winford
Liberia is joining the rest of the world to commemorate 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence from November 25 – December 10, 2011. This 10th Anniversary of the Campaign is being celebrated in Liberia under the global theme: “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!” while the national theme is: “Peace in the Home is Peace in the Nation.” Wow! What a marvelous theme! There could be no better theme than this. It depicts that the nation is prepared to depart from its ugly past of gender biases, harmful cultural practices, lack of equal opportunities, power and control which fueled violence against women. There is no better place to start than the home. We must underscore that Liberia has made some huge efforts in curtailing GBV. At the national level, there is a Rape Law with strong penalties ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment and also Criminal Court E charged with overseeing rape cases has been set up as well as the initiating of the Women and Children Protection Section at the Liberia National Police. There is also the Inheritance Law which protects women right to property during and after marriage. These reforms were intended to tighten the socio legal protection system that would enable women to claim and enjoy their rights against violence at all levels. Furthermore, the fact that Liberia boasts of having the first female president in Africa also boosts the engendering of the safeguarding of women on the national agenda. At the grass root level, civil society organizations, NGOs and UN partners are also contributing towards mobilizing of communities and the strengthening of structures in identifying, monitoring, reporting and preventing GBV. To some extent, changes are occurring at different levels and stages. The situation is improving for the better. Nevertheless, we are still far away from achieving that ideal society that prevents and responds to violence against women. We are still confronted with headache in the socio legal protection system not rising up promptly to the challenge. We are saddled with lack of awareness on gender and protection issues in some communities. We are still supporting harmful cultural practices which only heighten violence against women. Men and communities are still violating women in the name of holding tradition. The power and control wheel is still spinning with women being the victims with some paying little or no attention in mustering the courage to challenge this abuse of power. True, if peace is to reign in the nation, it must begin from the home. Husbands and family members should begin to motivate, support and inspire women rather than demean them. Our communities must serve as the haven that would stand up for the protection of women regardless of the status of the perpetrators. Violence against women can no longer be considered family or private affairs. It is a serious human right issue. It is wrong and we must stop it today; and not tomorrow. Communities and families must name and shame batterers. This would send the clear message that their behavior is inimical to the peace and vibrancy of the family and community. There are still vexing issues exacerbating violence against women in Liberia. We are yet to take a decisive step in addressing the Sande Society or Bush School. No one is preaching against the practicing of our culture, but for a harmful cultural practice to violate the rights of others to the very core, then we should be having a second thought about it if we are to be taken seriously. Even the Committee on the Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is encouraging us as a State Party to take some steps in addressing this frightening practice. We can just use this 16 Days of Activism to demonstrate our seriousness. We must begin to reinforce our response mechanism in promptly addressing sexual violence. True, there is the Rape Law and Criminal Court E addressing rape, but in some cases there are no reliance in addressing sexual exploitation and abuse. We need to go beyond the “Zero Tolerance SEA Circular” and put in measures that would curtail this abuse of power. We should begin to address the plight of young women who use their bodies as alternative to survival. We should not pretend that this is not happening. Empowerment, education and skill training should be our focus so that the survivors would be capacitated to make decisions from an advantageous position. Women and girls must be part of the planning, implementation and evaluation stages of our programs in clear demonstration of ownership. This will also give our programs a human face. They should be women centered. We should continue to engage all stakeholders including policy makers, religious, traditional and community leaders in influencing behavior, attitudes and practices that would reduce violence against women to the barest minimum. Yes, we must continue to rally our non abusive male counterparts as partners to serve as peer educators to others. We must challenge the power and control wheel and say no to all acts that violate the rights of women. We must back the 16 Days of Activism against GBV by deeds, and not words alone. The place to show our seriousness that we mean well is at home and in our communities by relinquishing the power and control wheel in preventing and responding to GBV. That means we cannot continue to do the same thing of abusing women and girls that we are accustomed to. It also means that we as parents and community should stop pushing our young girls on the lane to hustle for us. They deserve better than this. We must depart from the ugly past. The moment we set the standard at home, the rest of the nation will follow suit. Until that final victory is won, let us keep on keeping on.

The Need to Elect Child Friendly and Gender Sensitive Candidates During the 2011 Elections

Liberia

Elections the world over are about stocktaking and making critical decisions in choosing leaders that would foster political, socio, and economic agendas in the interest of the common people. No wonder why at times, they can be so emotionally charged especially during the debates and campaigns. It can be so amusing seeing how one candidate with no sense of true leadership, vision, compassion, and humility can blow his/her own horns as the messiah while at the same time brutally crucifies the opponent even if it is abundantly known that the opponent has a better case. But that is the beauty of democracy.

So it is left with us the electorates to discern as to who is saying the truth as “truth” has many sides.  In the wisdom of former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. “The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market”. So it shall be
left with us to test all the truths and decide on which one is better for Liberia.  And for Liberia, we are just beginning to enjoy this virtue of democracy which calls for periodic elections via competition of ideas and track record and departing from the jungle struggle where the mightiest survives, a debauched system that we’ve tested, yet failed us over the years.  

Democratic elections are good. But they are even better if we use them wisely in voting in the right people who would champion the aspirations of the powerless. Only then will we yield the fruits of standing on long queue in selecting our leaders. Too many times politicians have climbed to power at our expense and forgetting quickly promises they made to electorates.  We should use these elections as a means of erecting democratic checkpoints in making sure that we get the best out of the candidates. One way to begin is accessing how child friendly and gender sensitive they are. 

Liberia is lacking behind simply because we have failed miserably in putting children and women issues on the national agenda.  Too often we talk a lot, yet do little or nothing about their cause. No nation can progress if children and women’s issues are not taken as a priority among priorities.  While we appreciate that other issues would come up during these elections, we should not forget to test our legislative and presidential candidates on their child friendliness and gender sensitivity

But who is a child friendly and gender sensitive candidate, one may wonder. Someone who has the enviable record of standing up for the rights and welfare of children and women.  It is also important that this person must have developed and carried out programs favorable to their cause. And here, I do not mean having the usual political jamboree of New Year, Independence, and Christmas Parties for children and women where politicians lavish food and gifts only for recognition and big bluff.  And when the celebration ends, it is over. These children and women revert to their deprived situation.

We mean having programs that provide opportunities for children and women who were once susceptible but are now empowered through our intervention.  Those who advocated for the vulnerable who were once oppressed but today explore a window of opportunity of making informed choices due to the fact they are empowered.  We are not talking about giving cash to people because you were in need of their votes anyway, but perhaps through your work and advocacy, children and women were provided alternatives, a safety plan.

It is also important that we know the candidates platforms on how they would defend the children and women population.  How would the candidates deal with the Poro and Sande Societies and their certification for instance?  And the alleged trafficking of women and children? What is their understanding of empowerment and how are they going to take the vulnerable from the situation of being deprived to the point of exercising political, economic, and social freedom? What about the plight of thousands of children born out of wedlock and are not being looked after by their biological fathers? What safety measures will be in place in making sure that their development and protection rights are ensured?

What are our legislative and presidential candidates saying about child labor? What programmatic measures will be put into place in withdrawing, rehabilitating, and reintegrating them into communities? Experiences have proven that by merely ordering to arrest their abusive parents and send them to courts have yielded nothing. The children are back laboring, and some are painstakingly crushing rocks all in the need of survival. We need leaders who will think outside of the box and find answers to these social problems.

And what about the situation of sex workers? It is true that we have a law prohibiting prostitution.  It is always good to prevent rather than theorize prescriptions that will not work.  What alternatives are our leaders working on to address this social menace? Where will they start from or will we just be told because it is the oldest profession, is there nothing we will do about it? This is a vulnerable segment of our population that needs serious attention. And their plight can be flagged up now during these debates rather than later. 

What is happening to the Gender Equity Bill? The argument that women should equally fight for their place in the politics of our country seems to me to be out of place. Liberia, like many countries is a patriarchal society.  This is deeply rooted in our cultural practices, which give men all of the power to dominate beginning in the home, to the community, to institutions, and then to the national level.  True, we took a gigantic step a few years back to produce the first female president on the continent. But we are not there yet in bringing about equity. And the Bill is not calling for 50 percent, but only 30 percent. At the moment, who is using economic abuse, coercion and threats, intimidation, emotional abuse, isolation, denying and blaming and making all the big decisions in Liberia at all levels? If our answer is that it is not done equally between male and female, then our candidates must tell us something about the Gender Equity Bill.

The Child Rights Bill has been on the desk of the National Legislature now for more than three years.  It is still being debated even on the eve of elections. Liberia has signed and ratified most of the international laws and protocols favorable to the advancement of children. There are also some provisions in our own laws that protect children.  To address the child protection issue, one has to move from one document to the other. So the way forward was to harmonize all of the laws and provisions in one Act, so that children would be given the attention they truly deserve.  Again, the Child Rights Bill is yet to become a law. It is at the National Legislature. What are our legislative, senatorial, and presidential candidates saying on this critical issue?

The Liberian Reform Education Act has been signed into law. Thanks to all who played a role in making sure that education is given the place it deserves. But the question now, what is the political will power of our candidates in making sure that the very provisions of this law will be implemented? I can’t recall when the 2001 Education Act was actually put into effect, especially the 25 percent allocation to education from the National Budget. 

It is good that we listen to the extravagant speeches of the candidates,  promising to build bridges where there are no rivers, but let us begin to erect democratic checkpoints in accessing whether candidates are child friendly and gender sensitive.  If we elect leaders who are sensitive to the plight of children and women, Liberia would accrue multiplier dividends, not only for now, but for posterity as well.   The decision is yours; exercise it consciously in making children and women paramount during these elections.

About the Author: A. Alvin Winford is Program Manager of the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) Liberia, a National NGO. He is a 2001/2002 B.A. Mass Communication and Political Science Graduate of the University of Liberia. He is presently a 2011 Community Solutions Program Participant posted as a Fellow at the Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence in San Jose, California. The Community Solutions Program is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, and implemented by IREX. He can be reached at zanglib@yahoo.com or awinford@nextdoor.org

ANPPCAN Begins Mobilization For Young Girls --In Grand Cape Mount County

The African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) has begun mobilizing several communities in Grand Cape Mount County on the protection and socio-political participation of girls and young women.

The “Girl Power Programme Liberia” is aimed at providing equal opportunities for girls and young women. It is being implemented by ANPPCAN through its partners, the International Child Development Initiative (ICDI) with funding from the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

Major activities of the project carried out recently include capacity building trainings, holding of community dialogue forums and sensitization.

Copybooks, posters, stickers and t-shirts, promoting the protection and socio-participation of girls and young women were distributed in Bo-waterside, Tienii, Latia and Robertsport.

So far, a total of 340 girls and young women, men, boys, community, traditional and religious leaders have benefited from two weeks training that basically focused on violence against girls and young women and how they can prevent or report cases of violence, using referral mechanism.

It also provided opportunity for girls and young women to improve their leadership and participation skills.

The community dialogue highlighted the issues of violence taking place against girls and young women in their respective communities. Paramount among them is the issue of teenage pregnancy that is affecting school going girls and young women that is contributing to high rate of female school dropouts in the county.

The participants recommended continued sensitization on the rights of girls and young women, sexual reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and punitive measures be put in place against perpetrators as a means of addressing the menace.