PHOTO: Richelieu Allison head of CENSSAD
The Center for Security Studies and Development (CENSSAD) has signed a Grant Transfer Agreement with the Zivik Funding Programme to implement a project on Liberian women’s participation in peacebuilding and reconciliation.
The 9-month project titled: “Amplifying Women Voices: Breaking Down Obstacles to Women’s Participation in Liberia Peacebuilding and Reconciliation Processes”.
It encompasses a number of activities, including a Baseline Research to acquire systematic, in-depth knowledge about the drivers of Liberian women’s systematic exclusion from the reconciliation process, training workshops for women, town hall meetings and radio round table programs.
According to a CENSAD press release, the project seeks to strengthen women’s representation in Liberia’s reconciliation process and ultimately renders women a major implementer of the Liberia Peace Building Plan and will be implemented in Rivercess, Lofa, Cape Mount, Grand Gedeh, Nimba and Sinoe counties.
The project contributes to the establishment of an inclusive reconciliation process that aligns with both the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the 2017 Liberia Peacebuilding Plan (LPP). It will bring together local women and key stakeholders, including local authorities and traditional leaders.The first output hence relates to women being given the opportunity to express barriers to their participation in Liberia’s reconciliation process. The second output relates to capacity building training workshops to empower women to get involved in peace building and reconciliation processes. The third output focuses on women and local stakeholders being supported to develop strategies through local town hall meetings to overcome the barriers. The fourth intervention will be Radio Round table programs to amplify the project.
The project is supported by the German Federal Office’s Funds through the Zivik Funding Programme. The Zivik Funding Programme supports civil society actors worldwide in preventing crises, transforming conflicts, and creating as well as stabilizing peaceful social and political systems.
The Center for Security Studies and Development (CENSSAD) is a strategic institution established in 2014 with the view to enhance an efficient security sector, which is accountable to the people and underpinned by the acknowledgement that security, development and the rule of law are essential preconditions for sustainable peace.
CENSSAD is a member African Security Sector Network (ASSN), Early Warning, Early Response Working Group of Liberia, African Platform on Anti-Corruption and the National Security Sector Gender Task Force. since its establishment, CENSSAD has received support from a number of donors; including the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), United Nations Development Program, Peace Building Office and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) Coalition.to implement a number of activities.. In 2022, CENSSAD received funding from the United Nations Against Corruption (UNCAC) Coalition to undertake the production of Liberia’s First Civil Society Parallel Report on the Implementation of the UNCAC and to also undertake follow up activities. CENSSAD is presently working with UN Women and the Mano River Union Secretariat to set up the Mano River Union Women’s Parliamentary Network to serve as a platform for women’s political participation in the Mano River Union This project is at the regional level and brings together Female Members of Parliament (MP) from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast to basically increase women’s participation in politics.