The Migrants As Messengers Association of Liberia (MAMAL), with funding from and partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Peace Building Office, over the weekend concluded phase one of its promoting peaceful electoral environment and community security in Liberia.
The Promoting Peaceful Electoral Environment and Community Security in Liberia project seeks to engage and support existing peace infrastructures and community volunteers to conduct peer-to-peer engagement on conflict prevention and political participation in border communities across Liberia’s fifteen counties. Currently, the project has reached nine counties.
Also, the aim of the project is to ensure that Liberia’s political environment is void of political and electoral violence, hate speech and conflict as the nation goes toward the October 10, 2023 presidential and legislative elections. The program climaxed over the weekend in Bong and Nimba counties.
Migrants As Messengers Association of Liberia is a not-for-profit institution that strives to provide accurate information to the public on pressing issues.
MAMAL on August 3, 2023 commenced phase 2 of its awareness campaign in Bong, Nimba, Lofa, and Montserrado counties, conducting awareness against conflict triggers and electoral violence through interactive dialogue with community members, community leaders and local stakeholders’ engagement, door to door awareness, institutional engagement, and on-air awareness activities.
Migrant As Messenger Association of Liberia’s Executive Director, Catheryn Kenny, is quoted as saying that “the awareness campaign aimed at discouraging hate speeches, conflict trigger and electoral violence, thus empowering youths and women to promote anti-violence messages through the media and community engagement activities.
Activities also informed the public and social groups about the Farmington River Declaration peace document, signed by political parties’ leaders to uphold the peace during and after the elections.
Messages disseminated during the awareness campaigns were clear, compelling, and simple to ensure that they were understandable to the target audience. “The messages are being translated into a number of dialects, as Kpelleh, Lorma, Kissi, etc., which will be a great help to the understanding of our people, something we think has helped and will help us achieve our project’s objectives,” Executive Director Catheryn Kenny said.
Migrant As Messenger Association of Liberia’s Promoting a Peaceful Electoral Environment and Community Security in Liberia project comes at a time when Liberia is faced with tense political situations, coupled with the war of words from supporters and presidential candidates, which has the propensity to derail the peace of the country.
According to Kenny, the team had several engagements with state authorities and other relevant actors for strategic partnership and proper direction in the targeted counties.
