WLC Launches Historic Women’s Leadership Project Backed by India, Brazil, South Africa, and UN Women
September 9, 2025
BY Laymah Kollie
Monrovia: The Women’s Legislative Caucus has concluded a landmark signing ceremony and launching a project “Women Legislators in Liberia, Promoting Voice, Leadership, and Gender-Responsive Governance for Sustainable Development,”
The project is being funded by IBSA Fund with support from UN Women and national partners.
Providing an overview of the initiative during the opening the event, Grand Cape Mount Senator Dabah Varpilah stressed the importance of women’s political participation coming years highlighting that the project will not only strengthen Women’s Legislative Caucus but also empower younger women to understand and engage with legislative processes. “This is about preparing the next generation of women leaders to not just sit at the table, but to contribute meaningfully to decision-making in Liberia,” she said.
UN Women’s Country Representative to Liberia, Madam Comfort Lamptey, praised Liberia’s women legislators for their persistence in advancing gender equality. “When women join forces across party lines, they can leave a lasting imprint on laws, policies, and the lives of citizens,” she said. Lamptey emphasized that the project is “not an end, but a tool for transformation” and called on stakeholders to ensure it results in tangible gains for women and girls. She also acknowledged the partnership of the European Union, Sweden, Ireland, UNDP, and most recently India, Brazil, and South Africa through the IBSA Fund.
His Excellency Manjoh Bahari Verma, Ambassador of India to Liberia, reaffirmed India’s solidarity with Liberia. “The future of Liberia is inseparable from the progress of its women,” he declared. Drawing on India’s history of supporting women in peacekeeping and training, he noted that this $1 million IBSA Fund project “carries forward the spirit of solidarity with women at its heart.” Ambassador Verma underscored India’s vision of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam “the world is one family” and praised Liberia’s growing international leadership, including its recent election to the UN Security Council.
Professor Akbar Jasky, Ambassador of South Africa to Liberia, reflected on Liberia’s global significance in women’s empowerment. “Liberia is the only country I know with two women Peace Nobel Laureates—President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee,” he said. Yet, he questioned why this legacy is not mirrored in Liberia’s legislature. He acknowledged global backlash against women’s rights but expressed hope that the IBSA Fund project would “push back this regression and advance women’s rights in Liberia.”
Representing the Liberian legislature, Hon. Ellen Attoh-Wreh, Chairperson of the Women’s Legislative Caucus, expressed gratitude for the unprecedented level of support. She pledged the caucus’s commitment to ensuring the project delivers on its promise of empowering women leaders across the country. “This is the biggest support in the history of our caucus,” she said, vowing that the initiative would be implemented with dedication and accountability to inspire the next generation of Liberian women.
The signing was witnessed by national officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, alongside ambassadors from partner countries and representatives of civil society.
The 18-month project will run from September 2025 to February 2027. It aims to strengthen the capacity of women legislators, promote gender-sensitive lawmaking, and expand opportunities for women’s political participation across eight counties.
As Madam Lamptey aptly concluded, “The true measure of success will not be today’s signing. It will be what Liberian women can point to in the years ahead as the direct results of your leadership.
