PHOTO: SALI Executive Director, SALI, Miatta Garmai Darwolo
By Moses M. Tokpah, mosesmtokpah@gmail.com
KAKATA, Liberia- As part of its “Liberia Election Support Project,” Sister Aid Liberia Inc. (SALI) has ended a day-long Stakeholders Dialogue on Inclusive Political Participation and Eliminating Violence Against Women in Politics here in Margibi County.
Sister Aid Liberia Inc. is a women-led National Non-Governmental Organization that promotes Women’s Rights Advocacy and Leadership Empowerment, Research and Policy Engagements. It is also a Leadership and Capacity Building, mainly targeting women and girls.
SALI works with individuals, institutions, social movements, and communities with shared interest to fight in justices, poverty, and human rights abuses against women and girls.
The recent event brought together women from different sectors such as the Liberia Marketing Association, National Traditional Council of Liberia, Ministry of Gender, schools and the communities as well as six women Representative and one Senatorial Aspirants, among others.
They included Representative Ellen Attoh Wreh and Aspirant Dorothy Barcolleh of District #3. Others are Aspirants Rena D. Yancy, Alice Baysah and Jackie M. Gray of District #5 as well as Madam Florence Nepay of District #4, while the lone female Senatorial aspirant is former Senator Clarice Alpha Jah.
Giving an overview of the program, the Executive Director of SALI, Madam Miatta Garmai Darwolo said the dialogue was intended for the participants to make commitment of support to women who will be contesting in the County come 2023.
She stated that SALI will follow up on the participants’ commitments to ensure that the support they gave will go for all the women who are contesting the upcoming general and presidential elections.
“We’re here to give our commitment; we will take word from your mouths and we will put it on paper, we will follow your wherever you are to insure that the support you give here today will go for all our women who running to 2023,” Madam Darwolo told the women.
Meanwhile, the Sister Aid Liberia Inc. Executive Director said the Liberia Election Support Project is under the organization’s leadership and capacity building program.
“So based on all what we do under our leadership and capacity building program, we are running this program called the Liberia Election Support Project (LESP),” she explained.
She narrated that the Project is being implemented in Montserrado and Margibi Counties with sponsorship from the Swedish Development Cooperation, Irish Aid, UNDP and UN Women, respectively.
The essence of the project is to engage women from the different sectors to have reason to support women who are running for elected offices.
She also revealed that SALI studies the environment to know the situation women are faced with in their respective environments.
“So for example if a woman want contest in this District, we will come and research in that District to know what it will take for that woman to win, then we will tell the woman say you contesting oh but here is the situation here and that all the work they have to do to win,” Madam Dawolo stated.
The organization is engaging policy makers and advocates to ensure the passing of laws that are good for women.
In addition, Madam Darwolo explained that the organization empowers women in other counties as it gives small loan to women, train women into different forms of leadership, run a women political leadership clinic that trains aspirants and their campaign teams in order for them to understand the details of politics and what it means to run for office as a woman.
SALI is said to be running a specialized program for young women which is their transformative leadership program, working with young women and girls on grounds that when the older women are no longer around to take leadership, the young women should take leadership.
According to Madam Darwolo, even when the older women are there, they will work together with the older women is called inter-generational change.