CENSSAD concludes Local Stakeholders’ Town Hall Meetings

-Focus on Women Participation  In six counties

The Center for Security Studies and Development (CENSSAD) has completed six town hall meetings for local women and local stakeholders in Lofa, Grand Gedeh, Nimba, Sinoe, Rivercess, and Grand Cape Mount counties.

 The meetings are in continuation of a project titled ‘’Amplifying Women’s Voices: Understanding and Tearing Down the Barriers to Women’s Participation in Liberia’s Peacebuilding and Reconciliation Processes.”,

The meetings brought together a cross section of local stakeholders and community members including county superintendents, city mayors, security personnel, representatives from the Ministry of Gender, traditional leaders, local authorities, women, youth, and people living with disabilities. The forums provided the platforms for local women to utilize knowledge gained from capacity-building training workshops which were organized and conducted by CENSSAD from November to December 2024.

Aimed to equip women with knowledge to be able to advocate for their inclusion in peace and reconciliation programs at the local levels, the town hall meetings provided the opportunity for consensus building on women’s participation in peacebuilding and reconciliation processes.  Community members and women collaboratively discussed what they could do themselves within their communities or counties to mitigate obstacles to women’s participation in reconciliation and peacebuilding.

As part of the county-level dialogue cycle, participants in each county identified Champions for Reconciliation among the dialogues’ participants. Champions for Reconciliation are envisioned as individuals who are knowledgeable about reconciliation and capable of liaising with the Office of the Superintendent and local and national leaders to advise or advocate for actions that enhance the local reconciliation process.  

This project contributes to the establishment of an inclusive reconciliation process that aligns with both the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the 2017 Liberia Peacebuilding Plan (LPP).   It is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office’s Funds, through the Zivik Funding Program.