Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County- As part of efforts to address persistent gender inequality and rural poverty in Liberia, the Liberia Women Empowerment Project (LWEP), a World Bank-funded initiative, ActionAid Liberia has climaxed a one-day stakeholder training over the weekend in Grand Cape Mount County, home to the highest number of beneficiary communities in the country.
The LWEP is implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protect led by Plan International and a consortium of NGOs, including ActionAid Liberia in which ActionAid leads component one. The Liberia Women Empowerment Project aims to empower women and vulnerable groups in 114 communities across Cape Mount, one of six climate-vulnerable counties targeted under the project. Other counties include Montserrado, Bomi, Gbarpolu, Rivercess, and Grand Gedeh.
A World Bank 2024 Liberia Poverty Assessment on Liberia found that eight in every ten Liberians in rural areas live below the poverty line, compared to just three in every ten in the capital, Monrovia. This stark inequality underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions like LWEP.
In rural counties such as Grand Cape Mount, where families face limited access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunities, ActionAid Liberia is convinced that this project can help to reduce the gap and empower rural dwellers who suffer the burden of poverty persistently.
“The fact that women make up the majority of beneficiaries under the Liberia Women Empowerment Project is significant. It reflects the urgent need to empower rural women, who are disproportionately affected by poverty, inequality, and gender-based violence,” said ActionAid Liberia’s Women’s Rights Manager during the Cape Mount orientation session.
With women making up 70% of the LWEP’s targeted 267,200 beneficiaries, the project takes a gender-transformative approach, addressing systemic barriers to women’s empowerment, livelihoods, and gender-based violence prevention. Thirty (30%) percent of beneficiaries will be men, ensuring inclusive community transformation.
At the county-level orientation workshop organized by ActionAid Liberia, participants from rural women’s groups and youth to representatives from the Ministries of Education, Agriculture, and Health were drilled on the project’s five components and encouraged to take ownership for successful implementation.
“This project is coming to help change our women and families,” said Lenda Hawa Magoma, Coordinator for the Ministry of Gender in Cape Mount. “We’ve seen a high level of transparency in how this project will roll out, and we know how to report fraud or challenges. This builds trust and accountability.” Lena said.
In all these, ActionAid Liberia is driving social justice through community mobilization.
As part of a consortium of implementing partners, ActionAid Liberia is leading the implementation of Component One of LWEP, which focuses on community mobilization and transforming harmful social norms that fuel gender inequality. Using proven models such as Start Awareness Support Action (SASA), this component seeks to foster more gender-equitable communities and prevent gender-based violence from the grassroots.
Speaking on behalf of ActionAid Liberia’s Country Director, Women’s Rights Manager Madam Markonee Knightley emphasized the alignment between the LWEP and ActionAid’s broader vision.
“This is a unique opportunity to lift women and marginalized groups through empowerment and social transformation,” Knightley stated. “The Liberia Women Empowerment Project reflects our strategic mission to advance social justice, gender equality, and economic rights for all, particularly in underserved and rural communities.”
The project orientation workshop reinforced the need for local ownership and responsible stewardship of resources. Madam Haja Magdalene Fahnbulleh-Fahnbulleh, a former Commissioner of Cape Mount and a respected women’s advocate, called on beneficiaries, especially those engaged in the Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), to practice transparency and reinvest in their communities when the funds are disbursed to beneficiary communities.
“When you invest wisely, it gives others a chance to benefit. But if we misuse this opportunity, it won’t only hurt us, it will hinder national development,” Williams cautioned.
The LWEP is a five-year, multi-sectoral intervention focusing on five components for implementation.
Component One focuses on fostering positive social norms and encouraging community mobilization. This part of the program is led by ActionAid Liberia. Component Two aims to improve access to basic services, particularly in health and education. It includes support for adolescent reproductive health and services related to gender-based violence (GBV).
Component Three is dedicated to promoting resilient livelihoods and economic empowerment. It places special emphasis on women-led initiatives, providing access to financial credit to help women enhance their small businesses and farming activities in a more sustainable way.
The ultimate goal is to lift them out of acute poverty. While component four, which focuses on strengthening institutional capacity to address gender inequality and collect gender-disaggregated data, will work with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of gender to provide disaggregated data in the two sectors, while five, the Project management, oversees and monitors the LWEP project implementation.
The project is expected to impact over 267,000 people, with 36,000 individuals benefiting directly from livelihood grants. ActionAid Liberia is working in consortium with Plan International Liberia and the Catholic Relief Services.
In a country where rural poverty and gender inequality remain deeply entrenched, the Liberia Women Empowerment Project offers a bold and structured pathway to sustainable change. Through strategic leadership in community mobilization and social norm transformation, ActionAid Liberia is not only implementing a project, but it is championing a movement for justice, equality, and dignity for all Liberians, regardless of gender or geography.
