Liberia

Liberia is Africa's oldest republic with a population estimated to be 3.9 million (UN, 2009) with an area of 99,067 sq km (38,250 sq miles). The capital is Monrovia. The main language is English and 29 African languages belonging to the Mande, Kwa or Mel linguistic groups.

Liberia experienced civil war in the 1990s and an estimated 250,000 people were killed in the civil war and many thousands more fled the fighting. Rape and other forms of sexual violence remain among the most frequently committed crimes in Liberia. According to the UN, there were 349 rapes reported between January and June 2008, a significant increase over the previous year. In May 2008, the government decided to establish a special court dedicated to hearing gender and sexual violence cases.

Liberia was the first African nation to elect a female President, with the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to office in 2006. Sirleaf was elected to a second term in 2011 the same year in which she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Liberia ratified The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on July 17, 1984

Liberia adopted a National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on March 8, 2009. Please click here for further information

Liberia has a UN peacekeeping mandate: United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) which is one of the organization's most expensive peacekeeping operations.

Sources:BBC; Amnesty International; UNIFEM

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April 4, 2012 (The Inquirer)
LIBERIA: UN Women Dedicate Peace Huts The United Nations (UN) Women in Liberia has dedicated two peace huts to the women of Weala, Margibi County and the women of Totota and Salala District, lower Bong County.
March 28, 2012 (The Informer (Monrovia))
LIBERIA: MRU CSOs Urged To Unite For 30% Women Quota The Representative of the Mano River Union (MRU) in Cote d' Ivoire, Angui T. Assouakon, has called on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), particularly women of the subregion to work in unity and collaborate with one another if they which to make progress for the 30% quota of female representation in national decision-making and politics.
March 21, 2012 (ReliefWeb)
LIBERIA: Nearly Hundred Liberian Women Participated in CMI's Consultations To gain field-based knowledge on how gender-based violence (GBV) should be taken into account in future peace processes, CMI and its partner WANEP (West Africa Network for Peacebuilding) organised consultations at the end of February in three Liberian counties (Lofa, Bong, Nimba).
February 28, 2012 (Guardian)
LIBERIA: Wronged Women of Liberia Reluctant to Revisit Human Rights Abuses Having already testified to a government commission, victims of sexual violence eschew new process based on traditional justice.
February 23, 2012 (UN Women)
LIBERIA: Breaking the Cycle of Violence and HIV in Liberia As part of an Action Aid Liberia project to address violence and HIV, Benetta is helping to confront violations of women's rights in Liberia, and the stigma such violations can bring. With support from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, the project is being implemented in Liberia's south-eastern counties. The twin pandemics are rampant in these largely rural areas, exacerbated by poverty, discriminatory traditional justice systems, and low awareness of protection laws and what constitutes violence against women.

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INTERNATIONAL: UN Women and UNDP to Partner with EU to Foster Women's Effective Participation in Peacebuilding and Post-conflict Recovery, UN Women, February 1, 2012
Monthly Action Points (MAP) on Women, Peace and Security, NGOWG, March 2011, NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, March 1, 2011 | Download PDF
Peacebuilding in Liberia and the Case for a Perspective from Below, Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho, NUPI, September 1, 2010 | Download PDF
Gender Mainstreaming In Peacekeeping Operations Liberia 2003 – 2009: Best Practices Report, United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL); Office of the Gender Adviser (OGA), September, 2010 | Download PDF
Assessing the Legal Protection of Girls in Liberia, International Development Law Organization, August 23, 2010 | Download PDF

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Liberia's Nobel Win Hide's Liberia's Grim Rape Reality, Multi-Media, , 7 November 2011
OTHER: The Baggage We Carry, Other, Pillsbury House, April 14, 2011
STATEMENT: United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos Statement to the Press on Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia mission, Statements, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), April 7, 2011
APPEAL: The Word on Women - Women of West Africa call for peace in Ivory Coast, Appeals & Demonstrations, Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WISPEN AFRICA), March 18, 2011
INTERVIEW: Aid Worker Diaries - Women In Liberia Mobilise for Peace, Online Dialogues & Blogs, , March 8, 2011

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Monthly Action Points on Women, Peace, and Security, MAP , December 2011
Monthly Action Points (MAP) on Women, Peace and Security, NGOWG, March 2011, MAP , March 1, 2011
Monthly Action Points (MAP) on Women, Peace and Security, NGOWG, February 2010 (NGO), MAP , February 1, 2010

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United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
Mano River Women's Peace Network (MARWOPNET)
Marwopnet works to raise awareness among women's groups and organizations in the areas of human rights, democracy, gender equality and development in order to reinforce women's capacity in conflict prevention, management and resolution.

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