Actionaid Liberia Launches Country Strategy Paper III: Action for Rights and Social Justice

By: Laymah Kollie

Monrovia: A non-governmental organization ActionAid Liberia on 17th July officially launched its five years Country Strategy Paper III. The CSP III is a document crafted for the operations of the Institution from 2024 to 2029.

Giving overview of the activities at the start of the occasion, Madam Elizabeth Gbah Johnson, Executive Director of ActionAid Liberia said they intend to work in three thematic priorities. These areas include Priority Area One, which will address Women’s Rights and Economic Justice by examining Structural and Systemic Gender-Based Violence against women, girls, and other marginalized groups. Priority Area Two will focus on Democratic Governance and Accountability through inclusive and active civic participation led by women to ensure access to gender-responsive public services and the realization of community healthcare delivery, as well as health system strengthening. Priority Area Three will target Climate Justice and Humanitarian Resilience, aiming to enhance the resilience of communities to adapt and mitigate the impact of climate change and disasters through climate just practices of natural resource governance, agroecology, and sustainable livelihoods.

“Over the next five years, Action Aid Liberia will focus its work on three Strategic Priorities” Madam Johnson said.

Madam Johnson further noted that the CSP III will be executed under series of the following objectives;

Strategic Objective 1.1: Building agency of women and girls of all identities to challenge the structural and systemic causes of violence and influencing policy reforms through advocacy and collaboration with policymakers.

Strategic Objective 1.2: Elevate the political representation of young women while concurrently securing their social, economic, and financial empowerment.

Strategic Objective 2. 1: Empower people living in poverty and exclusion especially young women to actively participate in formal and traditional decision-making processes to advocate for policy reforms and ensure better utilization of health, education, and gender responsive public services.

Strategic Objective 2.2: Advance economic justice and redistribute women’s unpaid care and domestic work through expanding fiscal and policy space and supporting investment in gender-responsive public services and social protection.

Strategic Objective 3.1: Influencing policy and advocating for reforms in the formal and customary legal systems to ensure that women and young people of all identities have access, control and entitlement over productive resources, especially agricultural land.

Strategic Objective 3.2: Promote climate resilient ecological practices and build capacity of communities,
especially women, to achieve
resilient sustainable agriculture, energy, and alternative livelihood solutions in wake of the frequent disasters and climate change.

Strategic Objective 3.3: Empower communities to Influence policy, advocating for reforms in the extractives and energy sectors.

Finally, Strategic Objective 4. Advanced transformative women leadership in emergency preparedness, response and influence

The plan was officially launched by Mr. Curtis V. Dorley, Deputy of Research, Policy and Planning at the Ministry of Gender and Miss Josephine Poole Gbarma, President of Community Based Organization in Gbarpolu County.

Representing Minister Gbeme Horace-Kollie of Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mr. Dorley reaffirmed the Institution’s commitment to collaborative initiatives with Actionaid in pursuing their plans.

Also, Josephine Gbarma applauded ActionAid’s efforts to advancing the skills of young people in Gbarpolu.
“Through the ActionAid’s projects, we can boast that more than 50 plus young girls who have graduated grade 12, some are teachers and some are working. This is a plus for us in Gbarma District compared to before the arrival of ActionAid Liberia. The impact can be seen and measured. Issues of Sexual Gender Based Violence have drastically decreased”.

However, speaking on behalf of Rural women, Madam Jesadeh G. Barzon of Grand Gedeh highlighted the workings of ActionAid in their communities. According to Madam Barzon the Institution has been inclusive in its operations which has had great impacts on the lives of locals.

“Actionaid work with everyone, they do not only work with certain group of people. We want to thank them. They are not only there in terms of their programs. They are there when there are other problems. We now know our rights and wrong. We are empowered”. she said.

At the same time Partners including ForumCIV Liberia and the Embassy of Sweden reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the work of ActionAid.

“ForumCIV is keen on partnering with you. We have successfully collaborated in the past and are committed to furthering the empowerment of women and girls in Liberia through our networking efforts. We extend our gratitude to all the staff at ActionAid for their dedication and the high-quality work they have contributed. We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with you,” stated Mr. Asa Chon, Country Director of ForumCIV Liberia

Furthermore, Dwedwe Tarpeh, Program Officer at the Embassy of Sweden, highlighted that the Embassy has collaborated with AAL since their Country Strategy Papers I, II, and III. She emphasized the longstanding relationship with AAL and the ongoing commitment to empowering communities in Liberia.
“We are a steadfast partner to ActionAid, and we aim to maintain this strong partnership,” stated Madam Dwede Tarpeh.
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ActionAid Liberia is a member of ActionAid International, a global justice federation operating in over 45 countries worldwide and reaching approximately 15 million individuals. The organization focuses on social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication. In Liberia, they collaborate with more than 200 communities spanning 14 counties, including Bong, Grand Bassa, RiverGee, Nimba, Lofa, Margibi, Grand Cape Mount, Maryland, Bomi, Sinoe, RiverGee, Gbarpolu, Grand Gedeh, and Montserrado. AAL works closely with local and national partners, employing integrated strategies to tackle the root causes of poverty. The organization engages with a diverse range of stakeholders and partners to advocate for systemic change, providing platforms for women, girls, and marginalized groups to voice their concerns and have their needs addressed in local and national policies and services.