Move to positions of trust, influence –ABIC urges grassroots women

By Lincoln G. Peters  

The Establishment Coordinator of the influential Liberian-based Angie Brooks International Centre (ABIC) Counsellor Yvette Chesson-Wureh has urged grassroots women here to move forward to positions of trust and influence in the society, describing women as generational thinkers.

ABIC is an institution working here for women’s empowerment, leadership development, international peace and security. 

Speaking at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday, 8 March 2022 during the celebration of International Women’s Day, Madam Chesson-Wureh said it’s time that women do away with fear, phobia and threat from their male counterparts.

She urged grassroots women to take on the challenge to be visible to positions of trust and influence, adding that it’s only by that women’s plight and voice will be heard and listened to.

Madam Chesson-Wureh described women as aggressors, disruptors and creators, saying they must therefore create the space to get to positions of influence and trust, instead of waiting for it to come to them.

She said if women teach girls how to speak out, they will move the nation because women think about the future while men think about now.

She asked if women can be in charge of creation and have the ability to multitask, then who are men to say that women do not know book to be given a position of influence and trust for their opinion to be accepted.

She called on women to take responsibility to save the generation.

“I do not want us to be quite neither our girls, because we are thinking women. We are creators and generational thinkers. We think and we have the ability to speak and things happen,” she said. 

“We must make sure that our girls’ voice must be heard and it starts from the home. Whether good, bad, ugly, they should talk and we as parents will train them,” Madam Chesson – Wureh continued.

She cautioned grassroots women in the hall to stop hindering the voices of girls in the homes because it’s their responsibility to guide them in thought, train them in ideas and properly guide them how to formulate ideas to speak out.

Cllr. Chesson-Wureh noted that women had gathered to express themselves, and therefore women in political parties should not settle for women wing positions or be cooks, serving the men with food and drinks.

Instead, she said women in political parties should give ideas and break the bias to be at the table and influence decision-making.

“Liberian Women must be at the table and be visible. We as women have the right to be at the table. Therefore, we are not waiting for [any] money to bring an answer. We are partners to men. We have to start training our girls in the home to speak out instead of shutting them down,” said Cllr. Chesson – Wureh.

According to her, cooking and cleaning up are not girls’ lives because they are beyond that. She said parents should make the space for girls to express themselves and explore potential to compete with the boys in the home. 

Concluding, she said “many rape victims today cannot express themselves because of how we start teaching them from home to shut up. We have to train all our children equally and teach our girls to speak out and express themselves.”

In celebration of the International Women’s Day, ABIC assembled several grassroot women in Liberia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday, aimed at knowing the challenges they continue to confront and to find solutions.

Prior to the indoor meeting, ABIC and the grassroots women from West Point, Clara Town,  New Kru Town, King Gray, Bentol, Todee and Bong County, among others, marched peacefully, dressed in white T-shirt with the inscription “Peace in Our Hands.”  

The march started from Crown Hill on Broad Street and ended at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Participants voiced their challenges that they said are stopping them from stepping forward to the position of trust and influence. They named fear, tradition, lack of love and support for each other, lack of resources, limited education and threat from their spouses as challenges.

Madam Hajai Bah said most women do not support their friends and even those that are successful most of the time do not help their fellow women that pushed them to the top.

“We are happy for Angie Brooks because they have told us our value and importance as women. We are ready to take on leadership to walk side by side with the men. We now know our right and we will make sure that it’s taught our children that violence against women will not be shield.”https://thenewdawnliberia.com/liberians-warned-against-election-violence/