Participants from women-led Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Western Region Women Network Association (WERWONA), Community Land Development and Management Committees (CLDMC), and Project Affected Communities (PACs), have applauded the Rural Integrated Center for Community Empowerment (RICCE) following an intensive day-long training session focused on human rights advocacy for gender equality and climate justice.
The training, held at the Bomi Women Center in Tubmanburg, Bomi County on Friday August 22, 2025 is part of RICCE’s ongoing grassroots empowerment initiative, aimed to deepen participants’ understanding of gender, intersectionality, gender transformation, gender justice, and the critical links between natural resource governance and women’s rights.
According to the participants, the training was not only educational but also transformative, and it helped them to reframe their views on gender justice and resource access within their communities.
Before this, I never saw how gender equality is related to how we access land and other resources, said a participant. RICCE has opened our eyes.
Leaders from WERWONA emphasized the importance of integrating intersectionality into community advocacy, noting that women’s experiences with land rights, shift, and resource abuse often differ.
Madam Lydia Ballah, Coordinator of WERWONA said “This training is about our rights as women especially in land rights, concessions and others. We women need to know those things in concession agreements and other issues in our communities. The training helps us to know our benefits and rights as women in our communities and how to advocate.”
A representative from one of the women-led CBOs noted, we now understand the power of advocacy rooted in human rights and how to demand accountability through gender approaches.
RICCE Program Manager, Madam Renee N. Gibson, during the training used real-life situations, participatory learning tools, and community case studies to engage participants in active discussions and practical exercises. By the end of the session, participants had committed to continue their engagements in advancing gender equity and natural resource justice.
The training concluded with a strong call to sustain momentum and expand outreach to include more grassroots actors, particularly women and marginalized groups often excluded from land governance and decision-making processes.
Madam Gibson expressed gratitude for the passionate participation, stating, “This is what transformative community empowerment looks like when local voices lead the charge for gender justice and equitable resource management.”
She said “The issues affecting women should be discussed by women. She encouraged the women to be fully involved in discussions in their communities; stand up and take the needed actions for rights to be respected and your views considered.”
As the session ended, the participants agreed to keep informing their communities aimed at driving change across the western region.
The training was funded by the Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA) forest for a just programme through the Green Forest Coalition (GFC). RICCE is the gender technical partner of the Liberia partners of the GLA.
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