The Gender Section of the National Elections Commission (NEC), with support from the United Nations Women (UN Women), on Thursday conducted the first in a series of an one-day pre-training with political parties on the implementation of the Violence Against Women in Elections and Politics Protocol (VAWIE/P), and its action plan in Monrovia.
The pre-training on the VAWIE Protocol for political parties was organized by the NEC-Gender Section, in partnership with Canada.
Speaking Thursday, March 24, 2022, the NEC Commissioner with oversight for Gender, Josephine Kou Gaye, challenged Liberian women not to be afraid to participate in politics because it is the right of women to participate in politics, and what affects one woman affects all women. Commissioner Kou Gaye informed the political parties women representatives that the fight against violence against women is everybody’s business.
Forty executives of political parties, including coalitions and alliances, participated in the one-day pre-training on the implementation of violence against women in election and politics protocol, held at a local hotel in Sinkor.
Meanwhile, the second of the pre-training on the VAWIE/P for forty representatives from civil society organizations, government ministries and agencies begins Friday, March 25, 2022, under the auspices of NEC-Gender Section, with support from UN Women and Canada.
In a related development, the NEC says it will commence the process to burn ballot papers and other disposable electoral materials used during the 2020 special senatorial elections, national referendum and two representatives by-elections on Saturday, March 26, 2022 across the country. A NEC statement said the burning process begins in Lofa County. The Commission is meanwhile inviting political parties, civil society groups and the media to witness the burning process.