UN Women Executive Director and Canadian Prime Minister to Visit Liberia
Date:
UN Women Executive Director Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka being welcomed to the Liberian fishing village of Little Bassa during her last visit in February 2016.
21st November 2016…. Ahead of the launch of the ’16 Days of Activism’ to end violence against women and girls, the UN Women Executive Director Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will visit Liberia on a mission to re-echo commitments to supporting the country in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
The visit comes on the heels of a recently passed affirmative action bill which creates seven additional legislative seats; five of which will be occupied exclusively by women and one each for persons with disabilities and a youth.
It is the second visit this year of the UN Women Executive Director to the West African Country. Liberia is preparing to hold legislative and presidential election in 2017 which will see the replacement of Africa’s first elected woman president Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
While in Liberia, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka will on the evening of 23 November participate in the launch of the ’16 Days of Activism’ with the lighting of the ‘Orange Building’ at Liberia’s Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection in Monrovia.
On 24 November, the UN Women Executive Director will participate in a high-level panel discussion on the empowerment and leadership of women and girls alongside H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Canadian Prime Minister H.E. Justin Trudeau and other prominent women leaders.
During the visit, the Executive Director will also hold bilateral discussions with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Liberia Lena Nordström to reemphasize the strong partnership between Sweden and UN Women both at the national and global levels.
The Kingdom of Sweden is supporting a new 5-year joint programme on sexual and gender based violence and the implementation of the UN Women Liberia 2016-2017 Strategic Note.
In concluding her visit to Liberia, the UN Women Executive Director will hold separate meetings with the United Nations Liberia Country Team at UN Headquarters in Monrovia and will also meet with staff of UN Women Liberia at the Country Office where she will dedicate a conference hall in honor of the late UN Women Liberia Country Representative Sheela Kathy Magones who passed on in 2014.
In the final phase of the two-day visit Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka will visit a training for women entrepreneurs on water sanitation and hygiene value chain as part of progress being made on the Legacy Programme which she launched alongside President Sirleaf during her February 2016 visit to Liberia.
UN Women is the global champion for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, working to develop and uphold standards and create an environment in which every woman and girl can exercise her human rights and live up to her full potential. We are trusted partners for advocates and decision-makers from all walks of life, and a leader in the effort to achieve Gender Equality and women’s empowerment.