Outcome LBR_D_1.2

By 2024, people in Liberia especially the vulnerable and disadvantaged, benefit from strengthened institutions that are more effective, accountable, transparent, inclusive and gender-responsive in the delivery of essential services at the national and sub-national levels.

UN Women Liberia has made some progress towards this Outcome. The Draft New Election Law which included a mandatory 30% gender quota for political parties and political party leadership (Article 4.5) has passed by Senate and the House of representative for the first time in Liberia. Currently the law is tabled to be signed by the president. The Law provides fines in the event of noncompliance by political parties. Violence Against Women in Election and Politics (VAWIE/P) Protocol developed by National Elections Commission (NEC), with the support of UN Women (since 2021) is also endorsed by the NEC and political parties; currently 29 out of 32 registered political parties have signed the protocol. UN Women is recognized by NEC for the support provided on VAWIE/P_ protocol during the signing. (LINK) UN Women also contributed toward gender responsiveness Ministries and Commissions i.e., Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Education (MOE), National Investment Commission (NIC), and Liberia Anti- Corruption Commission (LACC) by supporting the development of the Gender and Social Inclusion Policy. MOE, NIC and LACC have endorsed the policy during a validation workshop held in December 2022, MOH is expected to endorse the policy in 2023. These policies will pave the way for establishing gender and social inclusion units that will support other ministries, agencies, and commissions' efforts to mainstream gender and promote gender equality. UN Women has contributed significantly to the development of the draft quota law by providing technical support to the women Legislative Caucus of Liberia including in preparation of Constitutional arguments and drafting sections on incentives and fines for noncompliance. UN Women also worked with Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection Affairs (MGCSP), key male allies in the legislature and ensured the participation of women’s rights organizations by organizing a power mapping of the National Legislature. UN Women also worked with UNDP Resident Representative and Resident Coordinator, published an op-ed on the case for a mandatory gender quota. (Link) UN Women worked with NEC, legislators, political parties and women's rights organisations to advocate for the signing and implementation of the VAWIE Protocol. l UN Women fully supported development of the Gender and Social Inclusion Policy by providing technical support that led the consultation and development process ensuring full ownership by partners. The 30% gender quota law, if passed as a law, VAWIE/P Protcol and planned capacity building programme for aspirants and candidates in politics is expected to contribute to increased representation of women as candidates in the 2023 elections, and therefore as legislators. Plans for similar intervention by UN Women Liberia’s experience should integrate strong and coordinated advocacy and technical assistance work with UN Women HQ Interagency Task Team on TSMs.

By 2024, people in Liberia especially the vulnerable and disadvantaged, benefit from strengthened institutions that are more effective, accountable, transparent, inclusive and gender-responsive in the delivery of essential services at the national and sub-national levels.

In 2024, UN Women supported transformative efforts in Liberia to advance gender equality, inclusive governance, and women’s leadership. Through partnerships with national and local institutions, civil society, and media organizations, targeted initiatives addressed systemic barriers to women’s participation in decision-making processes and governance structures. This report outlines key outcomes achieved in institutional and behavioral changes across electoral processes, local governance, peacebuilding, and media engagement. The National Elections Commission (NEC), with support from UN Women, finalized and launched its Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Policy in July 2024. This policy sets a bold target of 50% inclusivity in electoral processes and decision-making roles for women and persons with disabilities. Developed through a participatory process that included consultations with persons with disabilities, the GESI Policy reflects the principle of leaving no one behind. Two sensitization workshops engaged 61 participants (38 women, 23 men), including NEC staff and civil society representatives, fostering awareness and building commitment to implementing the policy. These efforts have strengthened NEC’s capacity to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion in electoral management. UN Women further collaborated with the Liberian Legislature to advance gender-responsive governance. In June 2024, the Legislative Reform Forum emphasized gender responsive lawmaking, citizen participation, and the importance of gender equality, including moving from a 30% gender quota to full parity. UN Women also supported the Women’s Legislative Caucus in developing a strategic plan (2025- 2029) for gender-responsive legislation and oversight. These efforts are part of a broader initiative to integrate gender equality into legislative processes, ensuring the inclusion of women’s voices and promoting equitable representation across Liberia’s governance structures. Promoting inclusive governance and development planning processes in Liberia are gender-responsive and socially inclusive, UN Women collaborated with Liberia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), and Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MGCSP) to integrate gender and social development into national and county planning processes. To facilitate gender-responsive consultations for the National Development Plan (NDP) and County Development Agendas (CDAs), UN Women developed a Country Consultation Guide. Despite these efforts, initial consultations revealed that women's participation averaged only 24%, with 551 women among 2,217 participants across 15 counties. To address this gap, UN Women introduced a Gender and Inclusion Checklist to assist stakeholders in reviewing draft CDAs. Capacity-building training on utilizing this checklist and applying a gender marker was provided to partners, including the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), the Women NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL), MIA, MFDP, and MGCSP. Additionally, through UN Women's advocacy with MIA and MFDP, 11 additional participants per county, totaling 165 participants, representing various women's rights organizations, youth groups, and persons with disabilities, were included to strengthen the focus on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in the CDAs. As a result, validation consultations for the CDAs saw improved representation, with women comprising 34% of participants (up from 24%), youth representing 19%, and persons with disabilities representing 6%, aligning with the Local Government Act's inclusivity requirements. To further support their participation, capacity-building training on the use of the Gender and Inclusion Checklist was provided for 84 participants drawn from 9 counties. Following the validation of the CDAs, six pilot counties (Bong, Lofa, Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Bassa, and Nimba) launched County Development Planning Units (DPUs) in December 2024, supported by UN Women through the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. A five-day workshop held from December 9–13, 2024, in Bopolu City and Gbarnga, strengthened technical capacities in gender-responsive budgeting, planning, and action plan development. The workshop engaged 58 participants (18 women, 40 men), who actively contributed to drafting gender action plans. Women's participation reached 33% in Gbarpolu and 40% in Bong. Participants committed to applying their new skills to ensure inclusive governance and equitable development in their respective counties. Women's initiatives significantly advanced women's leadership and political participation in Liberia. Through the "Transformative Leadership and Community Engagement for Women’s Participation in Politics and Peacebuilding (Phase III)" project, 320 women across Gbarpolu, Nimba, Bomi, Lofa, Grand Bassa, and Grand Gedeh counties received training. This included 248 women trained in transformative leadership, advocacy, and public engagement, and 72 women who benefited from peace mediation and conflict resolution training. These capacity-building efforts equipped women with the skills and confidence to assume leadership roles and actively engage in local peacebuilding efforts. Institutional and community-level changes have been achieved through advocacy led by Peace Huts and women’s rights organizations. Across six counties, 32 advocacy initiatives contributed to the appointment of 38 women to leadership roles, including town chiefs and district commissioners. Local authorities and male allies actively supported these efforts, challenging traditional norms and promoting gender-responsive governance. These collaborations have strengthened decision-making frameworks and advanced equitable governance systems that prioritize inclusive participation. Media played a critical role in advancing gender equality and women’s leadership. UN Women, in partnership with Internews and the Female Journalist Association of Liberia (FeJAL), conducted three capacity-building trainings in 2024, engaging 68 journalists (34 women, 34 men) from 20 media institutions. These sessions, held in Monrovia and Buchanan, focused on gender-responsive reporting, equipping journalists to challenge stereotypes and amplify women’s voices. 10 radio talk shows aired across six counties, providing platforms for discussions on barriers to women’s political participation and highlighting the need for equitable representation. These efforts reinforced media’s role in promoting inclusive narratives and supporting women’s leadership.

By 2024, people in Liberia especially the vulnerable and disadvantaged, benefit from strengthened institutions that are more effective, accountable, transparent, inclusive and gender-responsive in the delivery of essential services at the national and sub-national levels.

Progress towards this outcome can be seen in the increase in the number of females in the Legislature (+1 from 10 to 11) and in the cabinet (+1 from 4 to 5) in this quarter. Additionally, advocacy and capacity building in this quarter contributed to more gender responsive institutions, particularly the National Elections Commission and the National Legislature.

By 2024, people in Liberia especially the vulnerable and disadvantaged, benefit from strengthened institutions that are more effective, accountable, transparent, inclusive and gender-responsive in the delivery of essential services at the national and sub-national levels.

In 2023, Liberian citizens benefitted from the more transparent, inclusive and gender responsive conduct of electons by the National Elections Commission (NEC) and of key electoral stakeholders inclusing those in the Liberia early warning, early response network. The biometric voter registration (BVR) process, carried out for the first time in Liberia contributed to a record number of Liberians registering to vote. As a result of significant efforts to engage women in electoral processes, women comprised just over 50% of the 2,471,617 total registered voters (50.06% or 1,237,257 are women as compared to 49.94% or 1,234,360 men). In addition, 12,399 (0.052%) identified as voters with disabilities. Remarkably, this was being the first election where timely gender-disaggregated data (GDD) for the candidate and voter registration and elections workers was provided by the National Elections Commission (NEC), and the first time the NEC provided GDD for registered voters at the district level and candidates by political party during the candidate nomination period. This data allowed for improved delivery of civic and voter education, advocacy and campaigns. The NEC collected four types of sex-disaggregated data for the 2023 elections: information on voters, poll workers, observers, and candidates. Women were just 159 of the 1029 (15.5%) accepted candidates. Out of the total 6,269 workers hired by NEC, 31% were women, with 27% of them serving in supervisory roles. Women made up 30% of the total registered observers for the 2023 elections (29.17% or 4371 were women as compared to 70.83% 6265 men). Although these figures are not gender balanced, GDD on temporary elections workers and voter turnout, as well as lessons learned from policy and legislative reform efforts will also improve inclusion and gender equality in future electoral processes. Although most political parties, alliances and coalitions generally did not demonstrate gender responsiveness when it came to increasing the percentage of women on their candidate listings, 26 of them signed the Revised Farmington River Declaration, reaffirming the Protocol between the National Elections Commission (NEC) and Political Parties to address Violence Against Women in Elections and Politics (VAWE/P Protocol), committing signatories to address electoral violence, including VAWP, in the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections. This demonstrated greater commitment of political parties to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. The engendering of political will to address VAWE, together with strengthened capacities on VAWE including in documenting and reporting as well as nationwide awareness raising interventions on VAWE contributed to an enabling environment for women’s safe participation in politics ahead of the 2023 election, as evidenced by low recorded incidences of VAWE which benefitted women engaged in electoral processes as voters, elections workers, women's rights defenders, campaign staff and volunteers, and women candidates. Security sector and justice institutions were also strengthened to more effectively protect against VAWE and to investigate and pursue legal redress for VAWE cases through the formal justice system using the existing penal code as there is no specific law which refers to VAWE. Legal aid providers were also strengthened to provide gender sensitive legal services to women aspirants and women experiencing violence and discrimination due to their participation in politics and public life. While UN Women and UNDP supported targetted capacity building of the Peacebuilding Office (under the Ministry of Internal Affairs) and of the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MGCSP), UN Women's civil society partner, the Organization for Women and Children (ORWOCH) also targeted key institutions responsible for responding to VAWE including the Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA), NEC local magistrates, Liberia National Police (LNP) including Women and Children Protection Sections, magistrates, county attorneys, trial judges, prosecutors, public defenders, Sexual Gender Based Violence Unit personnel from the MGCSP in and the National Commission for Human Rights (INHCR). These interventions strengthened knowledge and capacities to recognize, report, and provide a more coordinated response to cases of VAWE. Similarly, while the electoral reform bill with a mandatory 30% gender quota for candidate listings did not receive Executive Approval in 2023, significant experience was gained and a broader coalition to advocate for electoral law reform including temporary special measures (TSMs) for women in politics in the future, and for a more gender responsive, effective and accountable legislature and executive branch. Additionally, UN Women worked to strengthen the accountability and inclusiveness of political parties with the NEC and civil society partners medica Liberia and POWER Liberia, working alongside the Coalition of Political Party Women in Liberia (COPPWIL) and women's auxillaries in political parties. Although only two of 31 political parties, alliances and coalitions submitted candidate nomination lists with over 30% women, some of the parties engaged demonstrated an openness to change and contributed to a guidance note for gender responsive parties and participated actively in other interventions and advocacy meetings. This demonstrates some progress towards political parties taking on reforms to promote women as leaders within their ranks and as candidates.