REPORT OF THE LAUNCHING EVENT FOR
“A WOMEN’S GUIDE TO
SECURITY SECTOR REFORM”
Monrovia - March 20, 2014
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Launching ceremony of the Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform
organized by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the Mano
River Union Women Peace Network in partnership with the Liberia National Law Enforcement
Association (LINLEA) and the Liberia Female Law Enforcement Association (LIFLEA)
© MARWOPNET, LINLEA, LIFLEA and DCAF 2014. All rights reserved.
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Launching Event | A Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform | Monrovia | March 20, 2014
Acronyms
AU
CSO
CSW
DCAF
ECOWAS
LIFLEA
LINLEA
LNAP
MARWOPNET
MoGD
SSRWG
UNMIL
UNSCR
WIPNET
African Union
Civil Society Organization
Commission on the Status of Women
Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of
Armed Forces
Economic Community Of West African States
Liberia Female Law Enforcement Association
Liberia National Law Enforcement Association
Liberia National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325
Mano River Union Women Peace Network
Ministry of Gender and Development
Security Sector Reform Working Group
United Nations Mission to Liberia
United Nations Security Council Resolution
Women in Peacebuilding Network
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LAUNCHING CEREMONY OF THE WOMEN’S GUIDE TO SECURITY SECTOR
REFORM
On March 20, 2014, DCAF and MARWOPNET, in collaboration with LINLEA and LIFLEA
organized an event to formally launch the publication, A Women’s Guide to Security Sector
Reform at the Corina Hotel in Monrovia. The event was attended by 113 persons from the
government, the United Nations Mission to Liberia (UNMIL), international institutions including
the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), women’s organizations, civil
society organizations, the press and representatives of community-based organizations from
Nimba and Lofa counties.
OPENING REMARKS
Dr. Evelyn Kandakai, a board and founding member
of MARWOPNET Liberia and former Minister of
Education, opened the launching event of the
Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform. Dr.
Kandakai gave the welcome remark in lieu of
Madam Amelia A. Ward, Second Regional Vice
President, Mano River Women Peace Network
(MARWOPNET).
She
expressed
her
heartfelt
gratitude to DCAF, MARWOPNET, LINLEA and LIFLEA for holding this initiative. In her brief
remark, Dr. Kandakai stressed that the Guide was expedient for integrating women’s questions
into every sector of the society. Further, she noted that this launch came timely as the African
Union (AU) had just recently held a meeting at the Kofi Annan Peace-Keeping Centre in Accra,
Ghana, to deliberate on how gender and security issues could be introduced into their own
policies and reforms. Dr. Kandakai acknowledged the United Nations Security Council
Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 as a springboard to highlight the significant roles of women in postconflict security and governance systems. She concluded that the Women’s Guide would serve as
a path to address women’s security concerns and to increase their participation in key decision
making and reform processes.
Mr. Daniel de Torres, Deputy Head of Operations III, Geneva
Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF),
briefly presented the Women’s Guide and its contents. Firstly, Mr.
de
Torres
acknowledged
with
gratitude
the
role
of
MARWOPNET, LINLEA and LIFLEA in ensuring women’s
involvement in security issues in Liberia; he also expressed
Launching Event | A Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform | Monrovia | March 20, 2014
profound appreciation to all those who supported the production and publication of the
Women’s Guide. He mentioned that the purpose of the Guide was to engage women and CSOs in
enhancing communication on security issues affecting communities and women. He saw the
Women’s Guide as eminent in promoting dialogues and enhancing women’s participation in
decision making processes, especially in the security sector. Mr. de Torres also mentioned the
UNSCR 1325 that recognized security as everyone’s business, as reflected in the Liberia National
Action Plan (LNAP). Mr. de Torres then compared how women and law enforcement institutions
perceived security. He stated that women had to be able to effectively communicate their
different concerns, priorities and ideas of how to make their community secure and that equally,
law enforcement institutions had to contemplate on law, policy, reforms, procedures and codes
of conduct that promote security reform and inclusiveness.
In his overview of the structure of the
Women’s Guide, he indicated that the Guide
had been written by the Geneva Centre for the
Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)
and the Institute for Inclusive Security and
was subdivided into three distinctive sections:
Understanding Security; Getting Involved and
Tools
for
Action.
He
encouraged
the
participants to use the Women’s Guide and to
support the government in the security sector
reform process.
Madam Ruth G. Caesar, National Focal Point for MARWOPNET Liberia, deliberated briefly on
Practical Examples of Advocacy from the Field. This presentation was made to showcase some
practical examples of advocacy conducted by women’s organizations in Liberia. During her
presentation, she recognized the capital role of the women of Liberia in embracing peace and
security as a paramount step in contributing to their survival and safety. She pointed out that
the Guide included, among others, several examples of women’s involvement in peace and
security in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia. In an effort to enhance women’s
participation and inclusion in security issues, she indicated that one of the practical examples
could be WIPNET’s involvement in setting up a Police Monitoring Form that monitored
domestic violence, rape, and sexual abuse against women. She further discussed the role of the
courts in handling abuse cases of violence against women.
Meanwhile, she informed participants that the Women’s Guide had been particularly designed to
provide readers with knowledge on key women’s issues in peace and security. She stated firmly
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Launching Event | A Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform | Monrovia | March 20, 2014
that security was a component of women’s human rights which must not be abused. Madam
Caesar also said that the media must be seen as a critical institution that could complement and
advocate for the promotion of women’s issues. Further, she encouraged every participant to
apply the contents of the Women’s Guide to enhance their daily activities and to contribute to
maintaining peace and security, especially since the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
was gradually drawing down from the country.
SPECIAL REMARKS
The opening remarks and presentation of the Guide were followed by contributions from
women in the audience. The goal of this session was to share practical examples from the day to
day work of different organizations. Madam Caroline Bowah Brown, County Director, Medica
Mondiale, recounted that at the onset of the reform
process in 2006, when civilian women sat with high
level security personnel to discuss women’s concerns,
it was felt that women were not supposed to be talking
about security. Seven years down the road, those
discussions and contributions by CSOs were now
bearing fruit - and finally it was understood that
security is not only an issue that concerned uniformed personnel but also civilians – including
women. She stated that MARWOPNET, WIPNET, LINLEA and LIFLEA were strategic in
promoting discussion on security issues. Madam Brown encouraged participants to see the
Guide as applicable in all sectors and fields. She said that it should enable the creation of a
platform to engage women and key stakeholders in order to effect best decisions and choices.
Madam
Korpu
Howard,
President,
Rural
Women,
Montserrado County, in her remarks called on key partners,
CSOs and stakeholders to give special priority to
strengthening the capacities of rural women in agricultural
activities and small business initiatives. Amidst key
challenges raised, she called on rural women to be the
sustainers of peace and security and to report threats to
security in Liberia. She also pledged for the full commitment
of rural women to build peace and enhance security in the country.
Madam Frances Greaves, Chairperson, National Civil Society Council of Liberia and Assistant
Coordinator for the Security Sector Reform Working Group (SSRWG), for her part, gave a special
remark and thanked the organizers for the initiative. She stated that the Women’s Guide would
help women to put their pens to papers in their daily activities. She further asserted that among
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Launching Event | A Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform | Monrovia | March 20, 2014
others, the Women’s Guide would help address key issues of gender-based violence. Madam
Greaves encouraged women to become more proactive in addressing challenges that concern
peace and security. She also highlighted the role of the Civil Society Organizations Council of
Liberia by informing the participants that the CSO
Council
completed
a
rigorous
process
of
decentralization and had elected fourteen (14)
representatives of the fifteen (15) CSO Council
members present in the various counties. She
explained that the CSO Council of Liberia provided
a platform for addressing and disseminating
information on the work of the CSOs at the county
level.
Mr. Peter Mokwe, Gender Officer, from UNMIL, gave special remarks and discussed the role of
UNMIL in the security sector reform process in Liberia. He specifically observed that peace and
security issues were cardinal to post-conflict Liberia and that women had many responsibilities
to ensure that peace and security were consolidated. This could help to prevent that the
experiences of the war were being repeated. Furthermore, he encouraged women to
continuously be engaged in the security sector reform and to make use of the Women’s Guide as
a way forward to promoting their involvement in security issues in Liberia.
Madam Albertha Bettie, Research Officer/Human Rights, Ministry of Justice, represented the
Minister of Justice. In her special remark, she underlined the significance of the launching
ceremony and gave a brief overview of the work of the Ministry of Justice in ensuring
supervision
and
coordination
among
security institutions in Liberia. She also
noted that the Ministry of Justice highly
recognized
the
role
of
women
as
monumental to security sector reform.
Therefore women should use the Women’s
Guide which would help to strengthen
women’s involvement in security sector
reform as well as their participation in key
discussions.
On behalf of the Minister of Gender and Development Hon. Julia Duncan Cassell, who was
representing the government at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York,
Madam Magdelene Dagoseh, Assistant Minister of Planning and Administration, formally
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Launching Event | A Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform | Monrovia | March 20, 2014
launched the Women’s Guide. In her remarks, she gave recognition to the organizers of the event
and thanked them for allowing her Minister to launch the Guide. She noted that due to the
sensitive nature of cases of insecurity that emerged from the borders, specific attention should
be given to border counties. She underlined that the Guide was equally important in this effort.
She noted further that UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Liberia National Action Plan
focused on women’s involvement in peace and security issues and therefore called upon all
women to play a part in the implementation process using the Guide alongside with these
important instruments.
DISCUSSION WITH THE PARTICIPANTS
After the special remarks by key stakeholders, the presentations by the High Table panellists,
and the Launching, an interactive session was held. The interactive session provided a forum in
which participants were given the opportunity to comment on the Guide or to raise specific
questions on women’s security concerns; for example on the impact the Women’s Guide may
have for ordinary women and how MARWOPNET intends to mitigate the challenges women face
across the Mano River region in terms of gender-related issues and security.
Regarding the question of why the program only covers two counties and borders regions, Mr.
Daniel de Torres, Deputy Head of Operations III of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control
of Armed Forces (DCAF), explained that it would indeed be useful if the program was to cover
all fifteen (15) counties of Liberia; but the lack of funding remains a fundamental challenge. He
further noted that DCAF will try to strengthen the current initiative, if possible, and asked local
civil society organizations to identify specific priorities for other parts of Liberia.
A participant raised a question on how MARWOPNET intends to disseminate the Women’s
Guide.
Madam
Ruth
G.
Caesar
explained that MARWOPNET will
attempt
to
disseminate
the
publication through the holding of a
women
and
security
roundtable
dialogue at which the Women’s Guide
would be discussed. Further, she
added, every possible opportunity
would be used to promote the Guide
through
the
press
and
other
gatherings. She also indicated that
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Launching Event | A Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform | Monrovia | March 20, 2014
MARWOPNET will explore the mutual and shared experiences of rural women, major security
stakeholders and key experts on security sector reform in Liberia. She called upon women to
become more proactive in working with law enforcement institutions.
The participants clearly recognized that MARWOPNET’s role in mitigating challenges that
confront women’s security across the Mano River region was critical and that possible
partnerships and interventions by local communities would be expedient in this endeavor.
However, a participant noted that the issue of land conflict and reform in Liberia remained a
paramount issue that MARWOPNET must critically look at since it involves the personal
security of the individual, women, children and the wider society.
Additionally, participants asked how the Women’s Guide could be adopted and made applicable
to other sectors. Madam Caesar explained that
the Guide was applicable to all sectors in
which the issue of women’s security is a
concern. She asserted that the Guide could be
useful in election monitoring, and can be
valuable for persons working on peacebuilding and governance issues. She stressed
that the Guide could be used in election
situations to report system irregularities, because of the practical tools and examples in it. A
participant sought to understand if the Rural Women of Liberia were provided loans and
financial support so that they could continue their programs and activities. In this regard,
Madam Korpu Howard, President, Rural Women, Montserrado County stated that the Rural
Women of Liberia are supported financially by the Ministry of Gender and Development
(MoGD). She also stated that the Ministry of Gender and Development offers basic capacity
trainings and provides loans for rural women.
Another critical concern was raised by one of the
participants, a member of the Rural Women of
Liberia. She commented that rural women
experienced difficulties in business transactions at
the borders. She informed the participants that
most times, rural women doing businesses at the
border between Liberia and Guinea are compelled
to pay custom duties at least twice. She asked
MARWOPNET to intervene to ensure that a
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Launching Event | A Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform | Monrovia | March 20, 2014
stronger link is established between the countries in order to avoid that rural women have to
pay double or triple custom duties.
On the issue of women prisoners, a corrections officer asserted that female inmates often do not
receive the support needed, particularly those who are pregnant or those with young children.
The corrections officer noted that such conditions continue to exist because female corrections
officers have not been given the opportunity to serve in senior command positions where they
could contribute to the development of policies and procedural guidelines which could impact
on the well-being of women prisoners.
In response to the concern raised by the corrections officer, Mr. Cecil B. Griffiths, Coordinator of
the SSRWG and President of the LINLEA, explained that LINLEA and LIFLEA have been working
on the issue of gender mainstreaming within the security sector. They conducted a study to
determine the level of gender mainstreaming within major security agencies in the country,
taking into account the percentage of women within the various ranks as well as policies
developed to promote gender equality and equity. Mr.
Griffiths noted that this project was intended to explore
possibilities for female officers to be given special
priority and placement in key areas of decision making.
He also informed participants that the SSRWG had
introduced a bill that was currently before the National
House of Legislature for endorsement. He indicated that
the bill sought to make the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitations an autonomous institution
that would develop its own budget and train its staff members. Although being autonomous in
this regard, the institution would however report to the Minister of Justice.
SUGGESTIONS
In concluding the interactive section a participant suggested that MARWOPNET should include
the Community Policing Forum into its
program to enable community members to
take full control of the security situation in
their communities. The participant further
noted that this initiative would flag critical
security issues that have an impact on women
from the community level. In support of this
suggestion, Madam Caesar stated that the
Community Policing Forum could also be
tailored to resemble a palaver hut discussion which includes community women. She
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Launching Event | A Women’s Guide to Security Sector Reform | Monrovia | March 20, 2014
remembered that the first female Town Chief in Boutuo, Nimba County, had been selected as a
result of intensive training that involved community partnership.
CONCLUSION
As the launching event ended, the participants were delighted and thanked the organizers of the
event. It was further stressed by the participants that the Women’s Guide would be used to
address the immediate concerns of women as well as to facilitate trainings and special
gatherings for women in other parts of Liberia.
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