The Young Women Actions for Rights, Peace and Development (YWARPD) has launched a project for first time voters in Montserrado County.
The project titled “Young Democrats Program: Mobilizing First Time Voters to Support Democracy Values, Electoral Processes and Enhance Sustainable Democracy in Liberia” is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The project, which comes on the heels of the upcoming election in 2023, seeks to increase first time voters’ turnout in the 2023 election order to ensure that young people play a significant role in determining the next set of leaders for Liberia and to further empower young women and men to build a community of young civic actors who are passionate about democracy.
The upcoming election will be Liberia’s fourth Presidential and General Election since the end of the conflict in 2003. Although young people, between the ages of 18-24, make up a huge percentage of registered voters, only a few percentages of these voters turned out to vote in the 2017 elections. This missed opportunity for young people to shape governance in Liberia can be reversed with a political mobilization strategy premised on innovation, inclusion, collaboration, consistency, and context-specific interventions. Against this backdrop, this project has been conceived.
The project activities will include a Civil Education Campaign for first time voters in Montserrado County under the theme: “Our Democracy, Our Election, Our Votes, Our Future!, a first time Voter Debate/Town Hall Meetings for representative’s aspirants in selected district, First Time Voters Democracy Summit, engagements between first time voters and political parties, First Time Voters’ Democracy Digital online platforms, training and deployment of first time voters Election Observation Teams and the establishment of 17 Democracy clubs in school across Montserrado County.
The launch of the project coincided with the Opening Ceremony of a three-day First-Time Voters’ Conference in Liberia. The conference brought together first-time voters from the 17 political districts on Montserrado County and provided the platform for first time voters to discuss issues relating to democracy, leadership and civil education. It was held under the theme “Standing Up for Sustainable Democracy by Catching Them Young”.
The conference was facilitated by Dr. Kimmie L. Weeks, Executive Director, Youth Action International0 and Attorney Patmillia Doe Paivey, Commissioner, Independent Human Right Commissioner of Liberia. The conference was also addressed by Ambassador Maria G. Harrison, Secretary General of the Mano River Union, Hon. Emelia Tongi, Hon Rebecca Kamara, Hon. Adama Bangura and Hon. Princess Kadie Daramy, all Members of Parliament from Sierra Leone