-Conducts training for 15 females

Fifteen males including men and boys are currently undergoing a three-month training on how to curtail Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and other crimes against women.

The training, which began July and is expected to be climaxed in September of this year, is taking place in Duazon, Rock Crusher Community, Margibi County, under the banner ”Enough excuses Project” to end SGBV in Liberia, organized by Paramount Young Women Initiative (PAYWOI) and partners.

Personnel of the Armed Forces of Liberia and the Liberia National Police, teachers, health workers, students, motorcyclists, taxi drivers, among others are attending the three-month exercises.

The Program Coordinator of PAYWOI, Hawa Wilson told Women Voices last Thursday, at the project’s site that PAYWOI was implementing the “Enough excuses project” which she said focuses on supporting and working with community dwellers aimed at working together collectively as a team to fight against SGBV within communities in the country.

She disclosed that the project is being sponsored by the European Union through Oxfam and FCI in Liberia.

According to her, under the project, PAYWOI has lots of activities and engagements that she has implemented and continues to implement.

“For today, we are implementing the men and boys engagement on harmful social and gender negative norms. When we talk about those norms that minimize the full representation of women and limiting women from actually yelling at their own potential as it relates to the environment,” she said.

Hawa indicated that we are living in a society that is highly political and has a very high male dominant system in place wherein women are restricted from doing certain things.

As a result, Hawa said her organization after researching, has observed that in order for marginalized women in the country to utilize and put forth their actual potential, PAYWOI is of the belief the issue of SGBV cannot be fully resolved with just a group of women without the involvement of their male counterparts.

Hawa disclosed that men are in most instances the perpetrators of SGBV, therefore, PAYWOI decided to include men and boys to have their share of the training, which she said several women have already received.

“Today we have 15 [males] men and boys undergoing this training in Duazon Community along with their spouses, as such we told them to bring their spouses along so that they too can be part of the conversation for them to understand their roles and obligation as they channel and join hands to fight against SGBV,” she said.

Commenting further, the PAYWOI Program Coordinator stated that the project which commenced since November 2019, is expected to cover a four-year period, with 2021, being year-two, which is currently rolling out until later September

Accordingly, she said the men and boys training activities are expected to cover 12 weeks, with trainers embarking upon a weekly community visitation to designated communities.

Communities designated include Marshall and Duazohn, in Margibi County;  and Samukai Camp and Mount Barclay Community, located in Montserrado County.

The training is slated to cover a total of 60 males, both men and boys, while the total cost of the project is US$90,000.

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“Honor thy mother and father”; Minister McGill quotes Bible to defend lavish burial

                     Minister Nathaniel McGill (Photo Credit: BBC News)

Liberia’s Presidential Affairs Minister, Nathaniel McGill invoked the Bible to defend the lavish burial of his late mother.

Minister McGill came under heavy criticism recently after it emerged that he buried his mother in a gold-polished casket and had an expensive mausoleum constructed for her.

The expensive mausoleum which features a pyramid-style roof, columns, and has all the attributes of a modern royal home attracted massive criticism on social media.

Social media users in Liberia condemned the move as wasteful spending. Critics accused McGill of being insensitive and extravagant at a time when Liberia is battling the Covid-19 pandemic and economic hardships.

Responding to the mounting public criticism, Minister McGill defended his decision arguing that there was nothing wrong with giving his mother a befitting burial.

He went on to quote the fifth commandment which commands one to honor their parents.

“The Fifth of the Ten Commandments reads: “Honor your father and your mother.”

This commandment is so important that it is one of the only commandments in the entire Bible that gives a reason for observing it: “That your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

Many people read that part of the Fifth Commandment as a reward. But while it may be regarded as a reward, the fact remains that it is a reason: If you build a society in which children honor their parents, your society will long survive. And the corollary is: A society in which children do not honor their parents is doomed to self-destruction.

In our time, this connection between honoring parents and maintaining civilization is not widely recognized. On the contrary, many of the best-educated parents do not believe that their children need to show them honor, since “honoring” implies an authority figure, and that is a status many modern parents reject. In addition, many parents seek to be loved, not honored, by their children. Yet, neither the Ten Commandments nor the Bible elsewhere commands us to love our parents. This is particularly striking given that the Bible commands us to love our neighbor, to love God, and to love the stranger…..”

He added that he is glad to have been able to honor his late mother by building her an extravagant mausoleum.

“I can only thank God for giving me such a loving mother, whom I will forever miss and whom we can never replace. But I also thank the Lord for making me honor her the way I did,” he wrote.

Apparently, this is not the first time the Presidential office has come under fire for wasteful spending and insensitive display of wealth. Recently, a junior minister working under Minister McGill was criticized after a video of him splashing champagne on an expensive SUV that he had bought for his wife as a birthday gift emerged on social media. Source: Harare.com