By Lincoln G. Peters
Community Healthcare Initiative (CHI), in collaboration with several partners, has strengthened and empowered dozens of human rights defenders in advancing Inclusive family Rights in Liberia.
The engagement, which is a pilot activity under the project, Advancing Inclusive Family Rights in Liberia, aims to enhance national advocacy that protects diverse family structures and reinforces Liberia’s commitments to gender equality, human rights, and the inclusion of key and vulnerable populations.
In fulfillment of the project, over the weekend, CHI concluded a day-long capacity-strengthening engagement focused on Opposition Mapping and Monitoring. This session is part of CHI’s broader effort to support civil society actors, advocates, and community-level champions who are working to advance rights-based frameworks for inclusive family structures in Liberia.
During the training held in Congo Town, participants deepen their understanding of various topics including, identifying potential advocacy gaps affecting families’ rights and values, and mapping actors, interests, and narratives that influence public opinion and policy decisions.
Furthermore, participants were also trained on strengthening coalitions that support coordinated advocacy responses and applying evidence-based strategies that help safeguard inclusive, rights-affirming families and communities.
However, providing a welcome remark and a brief importance of the training, Bendu Kamara, Project Staff expressed appreciation and excitement to the participants for honouring the invitation.
“We remain appreciative of the critical advocacy work you continue to lead in Liberia, especially your longstanding efforts to promote social justice, gender equality, and community empowerment. Your continued presence in this space strengthens the national movement for inclusive development, and we value the collaboration we have built over the years.” She recounted.
Expanding on the anti-right movement establishment in Liberia, particularly on the revised Public Health Bill and family value, she informed the gathering about an Anti-family rights Movement, which has been holding a series of meetings and engagement outside the country and has full full-established annex in Liberia that is currently advocating against family diversity, inclusion, and the revised Public Health Bill.
She further indicated that the group has been spreading misinformation regarding the revised Public Health bill, something she said is undermining the work of the passage of the bill.
” These people are coming with their own definition as to what a family should look like, instead of addressing it from the perspective of human rights and law. They believe that you can have as many children as you want even if you are not financially capable. Also, even if you will face maternal mortality or at the detriment of your life. We should have an inclusive space where one’s sexual identity or orientation should not be what one brings to the table.” She concluded.
Concluding, she lamented that the initiative is intended to assist them in opposition mapping and planning to enable them to achieve the goal of the Public Health Bill, promote equality following the emergence of a new anti-rights movement.
