Monrovia, Liberia, June 18, 2024 – A non-governmental organization called Sister-Aid Liberia has launched an important initiative as part of its project, “Promoting Gender Transformative and Positive Masculinity through Training and Mentorship,” which is funded by UN Women through Irish Aid. These trainings were conducted in three locations: Nimba, Gbarpolu, and Bomi counties. Participants in the training included women and men as well as officials from local government.
In the context of Gender Transformative and Positive Masculinity Training, the goal was to improve knowledge of masculinity, its construction and reinforcement, and its relationship to women’s underrepresentation in leadership and decision-making. It also aimed at Reflecting on gender inequality and power imbalances by analyzing masculinity; Challenge harmful masculine norms, practices, and status quos in an effort to promote critical reflection toward change; and Identify personal actions, commitments, and measures to promote gender equality and equal participation.
Throughout the training sessions, participants included high-ranking officials, heads of communities, commissioners, Grand Zoes, Commissioner Christiana Contaye, Doe Administrative District, and County Cultural Coordinators. In one of the trainings, Commissioner Christiana Contaye advised Sister Aid Liberia to implement additional capacity-building initiatives to strengthen their approach to behavioral change and community-based leadership.
“We needed more of Sister Aid Liberia’s transformative training to ensure behavioral and leadership change.”
Furthermore, as part of the rollout trainings that took place concurrently in Nimba, Bomi, and Garpolu counties, appointed women leaders, aspirants, and past candidates received training in Transformative Leadership, Communication, and Strategic Planning. The goal of the training was to empower women, including the 100 appointed women leaders and the 75 emerging women leaders, to lead with confidence and purpose, to enhance their verbal and nonverbal communication skills to effectively convey ideas and inspire others, particularly the emerging young women leaders, to continue taking on leadership challenges, to improve their public speaking abilities, to articulate ideas with confidence, influence stakeholders, and engage diverse audiences, and to arm them with strategic planning tools to set goals and make well-informed decisions that will propel their successes as leaders.
Following these trainings, participants included female aspirants, male stakeholders, community actors, and women leaders committed to addressing a wide range of leadership crises, from gender inequality in decision-making processes to in-demand skills in peace mediation and conflict resolution. Additionally, recipients of the trainings created strategic action plans to engage with their communities through awareness and stakeholder dialogues.
SisterAID Liberia (SALI) is a non-governmental organization led by women that combat inequality, poverty, and human rights abuses against women. SALI advocates for women-friendly laws and policies that are adopted and enacted.
