Monrovia, Liberia – The Women Empowerment for Self-Employment (WESE) and the Liberia Institute for the Promotion of Academic Excellence (LIPAE) have received two vehicles from Mercy Corps Liberia. One Toyota Land Cruiser (4×4) valued at US$47483.8 and one Toyota Prado 2018 Land Cruiser valued at US$29,352.14 are among the donated items. The Supporting Effective Advocacy in Liberia (SEAL) program, financed by the European Union, has been implemented by Mercy Corps and Kevina till Kevina since March 2019.
This comes after a screening procedure that Mercy Corps and its partners with eleven regional organizations conducted, with LIPAE and WESE emerging as the winners. According to Mercy Corps, the donation is intended to improve how well the two organizations function, particularly in Liberia’s rural areas.
During the Monrovia handover ceremony, Mercy Corps Country Director Ms. Rabi Sani revealed that the goal was to improve their ability to risk their lives when developing and overseeing public policy. Enhancement of the level of internal transparency and controls of individual organizations, which she said has led to a more accountable civil society that gives a wider range of Liberians a voice in the process of inclusive wealth creation, was one of the goals SEAL, with complementary funding from Irish Aid and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, achieved.
According to Ms. Sani, during the previous four years, SEAL has improved the expertise, abilities, and involvement of 11 CSOs, including 15 CBOs and NCSCLS, in advocacy, public discourse, public sector reforms, and public accountability. Through these procedures, the program has assisted in the creation of two national-level policies: the National Policy for Liberia’s School Accreditation and Teacher Licensing in 2023 and the proposal to update the country’s National Aid and NGO Policy. Three other policies were also supported by the program: the National Elections Regulations, the Small Business Empowerment (SBE) Act of 2014, and the Land Rights Act of 2018 for Liberia.
As per her statement, an additional achievement of the project is that the capacity development provided by the project has led to better scores in organizational capability and internal controls for 11 civil society organizations (CSOs) and the National Civil Society Council of Iberia (NCSCL). She continued that, as a result of this project, the NCSCL, 15 CBOS, and 11 CSOs have all reported an increase in their resource base as a result of SEAL program initiatives.
The Women Empowerment for Self-Employment (WESE) board chair, Grace Scotland Briawah, stated that this was unexpected as two out of the eleven local organizations that went through the screening procedure ultimately won these cars. WESE, a women-led organization, focuses on the empowerment of women. It has experience in agriculture, village savings and loans, skill development, and various forms of microfinance, predominantly in fourteen of the fifteen counties. Although it has been operating in 14 of the 15 counties with great success, the biggest obstacle has been transportation-related. She continued, “We’ve been careful, and we’re being very careful to do our work because women make up 80% of our management.”
Having acknowledged previous assistance to her organizations by other partners including Mercy Corps she described this donation as a Godsent and expressed excitement as saying, “this will be used for the intended purpose. I think this is going to allow us to do more, and we are grateful to Mercy Corps for this kind of gesture, so I think the issue of selection was a Godsent.”
The donation serves as inspiration for Benjiman M. Freeman Jr., Executive Director of LIPAC, to push his organization farther. “I want to thank Mercy Corps, the EU, and Irish Aid, amongst other partners, for this.”
Freeman added that as an organization they will continue to look forward to for these kinds of support as it remains critical. ‘We need more of these supports to build the capacity of more Liberians organization.”
Reported by: : Simeon S. Wiakanty
Contact: +231881538878
