UN Gender Theme Group Commits to Greater Alignment of Programs to Promote Gender Equality in Liberia

On Thursday, 6 April 2023, gender focal persons from UN agencies in Liberia ended a two-day Gender Theme Group (GTG) retreat at the Farmington Hotel in Margibi County with a commitment to step up efforts and activities to support gender-equality programmes for the advancement of national development.

The Acting Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Honorable Alice Johnson Howard was in attendance throughout the duration of the retreat, a reflection of the strong partnership commitment between the Government of Liberia and the UN System, in working jointly to advance gender equality.

The main goal of the retreat was to assess what the UN GTG had accomplished in 2022, to identify challenges, and to earmark important priorities for 2023 based on what had been learnt from 2022 and prevailing global realities. Several relevant development plans, including the government's national development plan (Pro-Poor Agenda for Development and Prosperity), the National Gender Policy, and the UN Development Framework for Liberia, or UNSCDF, were taken into consideration during the retreat to create a more effective and robust roadmap for the GTG.

Addressing the forum, Ms. Christine N. Umutoni, the UN Resident Coordinator, underlined the importance of effectively placing gender in development outcomes within the context of the GTG work because gender catapults everything. She said: "As the UN, we should make sure that gender is well positioned in the larger plans of Libera's development." She also asserted that gender mainstreaming is about both women and men, and that women's empowerment cannot occur without gender equality, which can only be attained with the help of individuals who are aware of the gender journey.

For her part, UN Women Country Representative, Ms. Comfort Lamptey, said GTG was an important functional platform within the UN Liberia family as “GTG advises the UN Country Team (UNCT) on how the UN can work on gender priorities in the country.” Ms. Lamptey said the GTG was well positioned to also advise the UNCT about supporting government in the implementation of its gender-sensitive development priorities.

Participants in the retreat underscored the importance of frequent collaboration, consultations, and interactions with government, civil society organizations, and the private sector, as well as advocating for increased resource mobilization to GTG, incorporating additional human rights principles, and to improving the alignment of GTG priorities with current UN and government development plans. These steps, they said, are necessary to support an inclusive, results-based gender programming in Liberia.

Participants also highlighted that the retreat gave them a better understanding of gender issues at all stages of development in Liberia. Although there is a lot going on in the counties, it is difficult to communicate a joint, cohesive outcome because of the lack of effective results-driven reporting. According to Ms. Kou Baawo, National Facilitator, UN Nutrition/FAO, "there is a need to strengthen grassroots capacity, increase advocacy, and improve coordination and reporting of GTG, involving the contribution of women to development nationally."

The Government of Liberia noted that unity of purpose in programming was pivotal to our gender goal. Honorable Alice Johnson Howard in her remarks, urged the UN to enhance GTG collaboration with government for increased development results. “Synchronizing our activities helps us achieve best results, accountability, and transparency for improved service delivery and good governance.”

A special call up was made to build stronger synergies between the GTG and other UN working groups including the UN Communications Group, UN Monitoring and Evaluation Group and UN Human Resources Group.

GTG activities are funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Liberia, as part of overall efforts to mainstream gender priorities   in the UN Sustainable Development Framework, in support of the Government of Liberia’s development agenda.