By: Leila B. Gbati
On Monday, 6, 2023, the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection and its partners officially launched the Alternative Livelihood Economic Program (Heritage Center) for traditional women and girls across Liberia as they end harmful practices of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Montserrado County.
The program was launched on Monday, February 6, 2023, by the Minister of Gender, Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr, at the official program commemorating International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM in Montserrado County, held in Songay Town, Todee District.
In a special statement at the occasion, Minister Tarr disclosed that the program is being strategized by the government of Liberia and partners, and activities to be carried out at the heritage centers include agriculture activities and vocational and technical capabilities for women.
According to her, women were granted 35 acres of land for practicing climate-smart agriculture; as such, they will also find a way to get people who will train the women and girls on capacity building, which will include financing and doing village savings and loans.
She stated that the Alternative Livelihood Economic Program site is not only in Montserrado but also in Tennie, Grand Cape Mount, and Nimba Counties, and they are also working on a site in Lofa and will continue mobilizing resources to expand to other counties.
Minister Tarr mentioned that when they talked about how to remove FGM they also taught on what can be done when their mothers come out of the bushes on based on their discussions with the traditional leaders they were given insight.
“We were able to go back to our partners and say in order to do this there are other things we need to do and ensure that our people have that they can move forward and so the program was brought into being so that as we move from bush to bush we know that our mothers are able to continue with their work and continue practicing our tradition and teaching our girls the beautiful culture without the mutilation part and this will address livelihood aspect of the zoes and so I want to officially launched this alternative livelihood economic program here in Songay Town,” she said.
Speaking further, Minister Tarr said the Ministry will continue engaging and mobilizing resources and reaching out to partners for help, adding that “it is not about giving money to pay everybody’s salary but about enhancing and empowering the women so that we can continue the beautiful parts of our culture and remove the harmful ones.”
The Minister of Gender emphasized that in everything a step must be taken, and today is the first and historical step they have taken, which has never happened before in Liberia, and she is glad that everybody is present at the occasion to be a part of the history-making.
She asserted that as everyone is working towards the end of FGM in Liberia, just five years ago they could not even have a conversation on FGM except for those who knew everything about it, but today they are having an open discussion.
“I want to remind us about the three-year moratorium; we are already ending the first year and we have two more to go, and we want to see that by the end of two years we will have a law in place across the country that we can use to tell the world that Liberia has officially banned FGM in the entire country. “We want to continue taking direction from the National Chief and Elders, Chief Zanzan Korwor, who is working with the zoes to ensure that FGM is completely banned in a way that people will not go back to the bushes hiding to do it; we want it to be sincere, where we will have rules and regulations that everybody will understand that we are keeping the beautiful part of our culture and doing away with the harmful part,” she noted.
However, Minister Tarr thanked the traditional leaders and international partners most especially European Union and Un Women for their support to the government toward the fight against FGM adding that it boasted the government’s efforts and ensured that it was addressed effectively.
She also admonished the partners to continue their support in order to ensure that FGM is totally resolved throughout Liberia.
Meanwhile, she further acknowledged President Weah and Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor for being the feminists-in-chief of FGM and working with them to ensure that FGM is banned in Liberia.
On December 20, 2012, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/67/146, calling on states, the United Nations system, civil society, and all stakeholders to observe February 6 each year as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The resolution seeks to intensify global efforts to eliminate FGM and raise awareness about the practice.
FGM is being recognized as a violation of the human rights of women and girls, reflecting deep-rooted inequality between the sexes and constituting an extreme form of discrimination against women.
With support from the United Nations, particularly UN-Women, and other stakeholders, the Government of Liberia, in partnership with the National Traditional Council of Chiefs and Elders (NACCEL), conducted a multi-stakeholder dialogue with traditional leaders from eleven (11) FGM-practicing counties in June 2019, which resolved to conduct an inventory to develop a database of sande bushes in the country.
Following the dialogue, a policy statement was issued, affirming their consent to adjust the timing of the bushes and modernize the practice, among others. Liberia is one of three West African countries that have not yet made female genital mutation (FGM) illegal.
The commemoration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance against FGM encourages activists to focus on the issues against female genital mutilation and child marriage that are most pertinent to our local context.
