UN Women Executive Director to visit Liberia

Date: Sunday, 28 February 2016

From 26 February to 1 March, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and the Executive Director of Oxfam, Winifred Byanyima, will undertake a five-day high-level joint visit to Liberia.

The visit comes as Liberia embarks on several critical processes—namely elections, decentralization and constitutional reform—and as the country recovers from the impact of the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, which had devastating effects on the lives and livelihoods of women and girls.

UN Women’s Executive Director will use the visit to recognize the role played by Liberian women in ending the Ebola outbreak. She will also meet with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and interact with members of the Legislature, civil society, women leaders, youth and the private sector to discuss how to best consolidate efforts to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in Liberia.

A highlight of Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka’s visit will be the launch of the new UN Women-led Joint Programme on the Prevention and Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Liberia. This five-year joint programme was developed to support the efforts of the Government of Liberia, specifically to: provide professional psychosocial services; improve medical care for survivors; strengthen the criminal justice system to effectively respond to sexual and gender-based violence; establish an integrated security and protection system to prevent and manage such violence; and strengthen coordination for a more effective response.

While in Liberia, the Executive Directors of both UN Women and Oxfam will spend a day in the village of Little Bassa, in the southern region of the county, to inaugurate an additional UN Women-supported Peace Hut and interact with community women and leaders.

Constructed in over 22 communities across Liberia, the UN Women-supported Peace Huts are safe spaces where women gather to discuss matters that affect their day-to-day lives, to resolve conflicts in the community and to take collective decisions on peace and security.

On the last day of her visit, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka will hold a press conference at the headquarters of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).