PHOTO: Ms. Richelle M. Allison, Executive Director of YWARPD
The Young Women’s Action For Rights, Peace and Development (YWARPD) has concluded two training workshops for democracy clubs at the Annie Bank Williams School in District 17 and Ward Academy in District 8, Montserrado County.
This is in line with its Mission Statement, and as part of a project titled, “Young Democrats Initiative: Mobilizing First Time Voters to Support Democracy Values, participate in the 2023 Election in Liberia and Espouse, Free and Nonviolence Elections in Liberia, a YWARPD press release said.
The workshops were supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
As part of the workshops, members of the clubs were exposed to a number of topics, including government, democracy, human rights, advocacy, conflict resolution, elections, civil education, voter registration, campaigning, etc. At the end of the training, members of each club took the “Democratic Oath” pledging to promote democracy, human rights, good governance and the rule of law at all times.
Speaking at the end of the training at Ward Academy, 9-year-old, who served as Chairman of the Student Unification Pary (SUP) said “I think it is important to learn about our society because we
– the youth growing up now – are going to takeover It is important that we understand what is going on around us and how things are decided. I think more about this now and I dare to voice my own opinion.
Meanwhile, as part of the project, YWARPD worked with the Democracy Club at WARD Academy to organize a debate for its student council election. During the debate, pupils vying for a number of positions including President, Vice Presidents, Senators and Representatives, were involved.
YWARPD is working to establish 17 Democracy Clubs in 17 Districts across Montserrado County. The overall objective of the project is to amplify the voices and roles of first-time voters and ensure their meaningful participation in democratic initiatives in Liberia.
YWARPD was founded in July 2022 to serve as an advocacy mechanism and platform for young women participation in issues affecting their participation, development and survival. The organization grew out of the felt need to amplify the voice of young women. The organization was founded by young women from a number of universities across Liberia and seeks to serve as the main platform for young women engagements in a number of activities affecting their development.