Democracy International (DI) has handed over two motorbikes to the Youth Movement for Collective Action (UMOVEMENT), a partner of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded program, Elections and Democracy Activity (EDA) in Liberia. The handover of the motorbikes is intended to support the work of UMOVEMENT in the counties as they implement their component of the EDA project.
UMOVEMENT is a sub-grantee to DI on the EDA project, and is supporting the Ministry of Education to realize its goal of rolling out the civic education curriculum nationally. EDA will support UMOVEMENT to assist the MOE to reach a total of 60,000 students, which represents 10% of public primary school students in Liberia.
During the handover of the motorbikes, DI’s Chief of Party, Stephanie Lynn, stated that the motorbikes handed over is a lease to UMOVEMENT for use over the life of the EDA project, and was made possible by USAID as part of its funding of the EDA project in Liberia. The COP appreciated UMOVEMENT for the work it is doing on the EDA project, and encouraged the organization to use the motorbikes to continue its work on civic education in the counties. The motorbikes are additional support to provision of Nissan Patrol to UMOVEMENT earlier this year.
Upon receipt of the keys to the motorbikes, the Head of UMOVEMENT, Urias, thanked USAID and DI for the motorbikes and pledged his organization’s commitment to using the bikes for monitoring and coordination of EDA activities in the counties. USAID Mary Zell witnessed the event. The Elections and Democracy Activity (EDA) is a USAID-funded project designed to help Liberia overcome the most serious threats to its democracy and foster inclusive, sustainable democratic political development. The EDA is working with civil society organizations (CSOs), the National Elections Commission (NEC) and the Government of Liberia (GOL) to cultivate accountable elected representatives who govern in the interest of their constituents. The EDA has three interrelated objectives: (1) increase leadership of marginalized groups in political processes, (2) improve civic knowledge and sense of civic duty and (3) advance self-reliance of the NEC and civil society organizations to independently manage and observe all stages of the electoral cycle.
