Outcome LBR_D_2.2

By 2024, Liberia has sustained, diversified and inclusive economic growth driven by investments in agriculture, food security and job creation and is resilient to climate change and natural disasters.

In Lofa, Bong, and Nimba Counties, seven agricultural cooperatives, comprising 874 rural women, successfully implemented the Land Law with UN Women's support. The National Adult Education Association of Liberia (NAEAL) facilitated this initiative on gender-responsive literacy, civic education, and advisory services. The goal was to ensure equitable distribution of benefits and promote gender equality in land governance, empowering women and youth in agriculture. Collaborative efforts with NAEAL strengthened the impact and reach of the initiative, making significant strides in fostering fair land application and gender equality within targeted communities. UN Women, in collaboration with the Liberian government, UN agencies, and civil society, supported gender-responsive measures in Liberia's Land Law. This legal framework benefited 874 women in targeted counties, leading to their active involvement in land improvements, credit access, and poverty reduction. The gender-inclusive approach not only enhanced women's economic status but also boosted agricultural productivity, contributing to improved food production and local food security. UN Women's advocacy campaigns, using community radios and the Buy from Women platform, further promoted gender equality in land ownership and sustainable agricultural practices within communities. Through UN Women's support, 874 rural women and youth farmers gained business development and management skills, resulting in successful businesses, expanded opportunities, and increased employment. Access to finance through Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) empowered women with financial resources, reducing vulnerability to poverty. The VSLAs not only provided financial services but also created a platform for collective problem-solving and community development, making significant contributions to poverty alleviation in targeted communities. Collaboration between UN Women, Orange, and NAEAL transformed the lives of 1,200 female farmers. Comprehensive capacity-building support included digital literacy, business skills, civic education, and health awareness. Initiatives like the Solar Suitcase project and digitized VSLAs advanced financial access, gender equality, and community resilience, contributing significantly to sustainable development. UN Women's disaster resilience initiatives, in collaboration with NDMA and MoA, empowered 1,200 female farmers. Smart devices and digitized VSLAs enhanced disaster preparedness and reduced vulnerability to environmental hazards. This comprehensive approach, including education in disaster risk reduction, resource governance, and environmental preservation, positioned women as leaders in agriculture and economic development. Digital literacy training by UN Women and Orange benefited over 300 young women, fostering personal growth, academic success, and access to online resources. Capacity-building sessions on social media usage for HIV/AIDS prevention and gender equality empowered women as change-makers. The Women's Digital Centers and Buy from Women digital platform provided essential skills, market access, and increased income for women in agri-business, aligning with the government's Digital Economy Strategy. UN Women's support for farming cooperatives resulted in positive outcomes, improving agricultural practices, economic empowerment, and climate resilience for over 3,000 women. The Women's Digital Centers transformed the lives of 300 young women, providing digital literacy skills and creating opportunities for entrepreneurship and social connections. The Buy from Women platform broadened market access, leading to increased sales and income for 1,200 women, with $163,376.30 in revenue generated in 2023. The collaboration with the Central Bank of Liberia formalized financial activities, integrating 15 VSLAs into formal mobile banking services. Empowered Buy from Women Champions and strengthened disaster risk reduction preparedness contributed to increased financial access, resilience, and economic empowerment for women smallholder farmers. UN Women initiated a gender audit of Liberia's Labor Practices Law. The audit, conducted in collaboration with ILO and MoL, was successfully completed and validated in October 2023. The findings provided valuable insights for strategic interventions to advance gender equality in the labor sector. The recommendations in the final report guided actions to improve Liberia's labor practices.

By 2024, Liberia has sustained, diversified and inclusive economic growth driven by investments in agriculture, food security and job creation and is resilient to climate change and natural disasters.

The Women Economic Empowerment Section within the UN Women Liberia Country Office has worked to ensure that there is improved food and nutrition security by increasing the productive potential of women smallholder farmers through: ensuring their access to and control over productive resources and services critical to food security and nutrition; there is increased income for women to secure their livelihoods by focusing on supporting women’s livelihood strategies, enhancing their income opportunities, supporting women-led entrepreneurship and promoting their linkages to markets; and that there is enhanced leadership and participation with women in their communities and in institutions, and in shaping laws, policies and programmes that promote their agency in local governance.. UN Women has worked with FAO and WFP in Liberia to achieve results on women’s improved food and nutrition security, increased income, enhanced leadership and participation, and a gender-responsive policy environment for the economic empowerment of rural women. The contributions of these relevant UN agencies and Government ministries have outlined a results-oriented joint initiative that promotes the economic empowerment of rural women smallholders and entrepreneurs in Liberia. Each UN agency has brought different comparative advantages to empowering rural women economically and socially. These include, for example, UN Women provided technical knowledge on Women Economic Empowerment, its strong linkage with the women’s movement in Liberia, and its leadership for GEWE; WFP’s food assistance innovations; and FAO’s specialist technical knowledge and policy assistance on agriculture and food security. By capitalizing on their know-how, resources, experiences, and constituencies, the collaboration continues to enhance the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of this joint initiative on promoting the economic empowerment of women and girls in rural Each UN agency has brought different comparative advantages to empowering rural women economically and socially. These include, for example, UN Women provided technical knowledge on Women Economic Empowerment, its strong linkage with the women’s movement in Liberia, and its leadership for GEWE; WFP’s food assistance innovations; and FAO’s specialist technical knowledge and policy assistance on agriculture and food security. By capitalizing on their know-how, resources, experiences, and constituencies, the collaboration continues to enhance the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of this joint initiative on promoting the economic empowerment of women and girls in rural

By 2024, Liberia has sustained, diversified and inclusive economic growth driven by investments in agriculture, food security and job creation and is resilient to climate change and natural disasters.

A total of 1,137 jobs have been created, with UN Women Liberia’s support, contributing to economic growth and income security in the country. As of September 2024, women have generated over LRD$ 52,501,476.00 (approximately US$ 279,932.29) in revenue through the UN Women-supported "Buy from Women" (BFW) digital platform . Created in partnership with Orange, in 2024 the platform was enhanced, resulting in the training of over 1,000 rural women farmers across 17 cooperatives on the platform and business/financial skills, contributing to the above results. 3,619 women benefited from training or equipment since 2022, with 177 new women registering on the BFW platform in 2024. A comprehensive Digital Resource Hub provides ongoing access to training and resources, supporting continuous learning and development for women. New employment opportunities for women in the non-traditional renewable energy sector have fostered economic empowerment and a more inclusive green economy in Liberia. Women from 17 women-led farming cooperatives have boosted their businesses’ productivity, increased time savings, and achieved grater economic independence in the green economy after accessing clean energy tools for domestic and productive uses, such as solar-powered equipment (Orange energy kits, mills, dryers) and eco-stoves, provided by UN Women. The UN Women "Buy from Women Champions" initiative has contributed to this result by creating green jobs for rural women and youth by training them to become “Orange Energy” agents. To achieve this progress, UN Women has partnered with the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), and 30 NDMA staff and partners have completed UN Women's GHA training, gaining skills in gender-responsive disaster data collection. UN Women worked with the NDMA to conduct a gender and institutional assessment whose findings will guide support efforts to enhance NDMA's disaster response capabilities. UN Women also played a central role in integrating gender into the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) that will be developed in 2025, participating in a stocktaking exercise with UNDP.

By 2024, Liberia has sustained, diversified and inclusive economic growth driven by investments in agriculture, food security and job creation and is resilient to climate change and natural disasters.

Access to sustainable rural credit for women farmers with the Sua-Yelle Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Gbartala, Bong County, strengthened through Climate-Smart Agriculture brought significant change on the lives of women. The flagship program is supported by The Government of Sweden and Orange foundation. Over 750 smallholder women farmers, organized in 26 associations in Gbartala and surrounding towns established VSLAs to overcome common barriers to accessing credit. The cooperative expanded the service and 25 new VSLA groups were established. The members now are reached more than a thousand women households or over 4000 individuals benefited from these (Average population size 4.4 World Population Dashboard -Liberia | United Nations Population Fund (unfpa.org) . The VSLA groups invested their savings in agriculture and vegetable production and are gaining income to support their families. The VSLAs groups have demonstrated themselves as successful community groups/associations that inspire gains in the social status of rural women. As attested by Musa Nana (the video link WEE videos ), besides expanding their farm, women are aware of the Buy from Women digital platform, where they can directly sell their farm products. Further she said “women are now digitally literate and are getting information on land governance acts, information on HIV AIDs using their smart phones.” In addition, Women are able to send their children to school as a result of mobile money business and other agriculture activities. About one-third of the population in Liberia has no access to education. Girls in rural areas have a net attendance rate of 35 percent for primary and 13 percent for secondary levels, versus 53 percent and 34 percent for girls in urban areas, respectively. Only 33.5 percent of rural women are considered literate . As a result, there is high demand from r ural women in Liberia to read and write, and UN women recognized this needs and organized adult literacy session as part of women empowerment program. A beneficiary of the project, Garmi Willi shares her story that “the literacy program allowed me to be bold, and express myself in a crowd, besides the income that I gained from the cooperative business which supported myself and my families.” She further added that “not only to read and write, but I never knew that women are important in the society, now I want to be a commissionaire.” Overall, digital literacy has enabled beneficiaries to access education, employment, and equitable resources. In addition, digital media has allowed the empowerment of women to be seen on a scale like never before in targeted rural areas.