Liberia’s delegation to New York, USA has successfully climaxed a two-week exhaustive conference on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York, USA.
According to a dispatch, the Commission on the Status of Women evaluates progress on gender equality, identifies challenges, set global standards, and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women worldwide.
This year, the 67th edition of the CSW was held under the theme “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.”
Speaking at the conference, Gender, Children, and Social Protection Minister Williametta E. Saydee Tarr, head of Liberia’s delegation, outlined the progress the Liberian Government has made under the leadership of President George Manneh Weah in this ever-changing digital age.
She informed the conference that Liberia uses digital financial platforms, such as mobile money and 24-hour call centers to ensure that women and girls have access to finance and help against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.
She added that the mobile money platform is used to pay salaries and other financial benefits to public sector workers and transfer cash to beneficiaries of the Liberia Social Safety Nets Program.
She detailed that the program supports vulnerable households, particularly female-headed households.
“There are frantic efforts to use digital platforms and technology to improve agricultural development and women’s access to markets and credit facilities,” she said.
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She continued that there is access to energy, learning opportunities, and disaster risk management through the ongoing implementation of the ‘Liberia Women Empowerment Project.’
Minister Tarr detailed that it is a 44.6-million-dollar project approved by the World Bank in 2022 to comprehensively support women’s economic and social empowerment in Liberia.
A side event was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and co-hosted by Liberia and The Gambia on the innovations in the prevention and control of Non-Communicable Diseases, especially among women and girls.
At that event, Gender Minister Saydee-Tarr told delegates from across the world that the use of Digital Health in Liberia is still being piloted.
But she said it is helping to improve efficiency in reducing the period and boosting the accuracy of health interventions, enhancing communication and trust between patients and health workers, and improving timeliness and accuracy of health reports.
She informed the conference of the historic ban on the practice of Female Genital Mutilation in Liberia.
Additionally, the head of the National Chiefs and Elders in Liberia Zanzan Karwor was present and reaffirmed his institution’s stance on the ban on FGM.
Bilateral meetings on gender equality, women empowerment, and sexual and gender-based violence issues were held throughout the conference.
Minister Tarr held meetings with Marci Len, Minister of Women and Gender Equality of Canada; Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians; UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous and other strategic partners.
For her part, Liberia’s First Lady Amb. Clar Marie Weah highlighted efforts by her office through the “She’s You Movement” to ensure that girls and women in Liberia have greater access to healthcare, addressing issues of gender disparities and inequalities.
The First Lady believes that effectively devising strategies that seek to address non-communicable diseases would make a difference and improve the well-being of the people while pushing development.
She said Liberia is committed to doing this in tandem with Target 3.4 of the SDGs.
During the two weeks conference which ran from March 6-17, 2023, Liberia hosted her side event tagged “Pathway to Eradicating FGM in Liberia: An Intentional and Participatory Process.”
