-Calls on Government for Budgetary Support for SGBV Survivors
By Jerromie S. Walters
MONROVIA – The Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL) on Friday, March 27, 2026, commenced the distribution of dignity kits to survivors of gender-based violence at one-stop centers across Montserrado County, as the organization’s Executive Director called on the Liberian government to allocate national budget resources to support GBV survivors’ initiatives amid the departure of international partners.
The donation is part of the organization’s “Liberia Fights FGM Project,” funded by the UN Trust Fund and targeting five counties across Liberia. Significant quantities of dignity kits were provided to seven one-stop centers across Montserrado County, including the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, the Hope for Women Health Center, the Duport Road Health Center, Redemption, Star of the Sea, C. B Marshall, and the James David center.
Distribution is set to continue this week to additional centers in Bong, Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, and Margibi counties. A total of 600 dignity kits were packaged for distribution to survivors of gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation, under this phase. The packages are tailored separately for children and adult survivors. The children’s package includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, slippers, a towel, soap, clothes, snacks, and toys. The adult package contains a lappa, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, underclothes, slippers, and a towel.
In remarks prior to the distribution, WONGOSOL Executive Director Esther David Yango urged, “We call on the Liberian government to see the need to provide support for survivors of gender-based violence. We are seeing it. The realities are there. The gap is glaring. We need support. We need an enabling environment for our women and girls. Without budgetary allotment, nothing will be done.”
She explained that the project was initially funded by CEDAW through KTK, which helped the organization support SGBV survivors. That project has since ended, and the current initiative is expected to conclude in September of this year. “Our partners are leaving. Now it is time for the government to live up to its commitment to support those various initiatives that partners were supporting so that we can create an enabling environment for women and girls,” she added.
Representatives from UN Women, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, and the Ministry of Health lauded the initiative and reaffirmed their commitment to curbing all forms of sexual and gender-based violence. During the donation at the various health centers, the GBV unit supervisors thanked WONGOSOL and acknowledged the importance of the gesture and the items to their work and to survivors of gender-based violence.
The “Liberia Fights FGM Project” runs from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2026, with a total budget of $748,490. The project operates across six counties: Bong, Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Margibi, and Montserrado. In January of last year, WONGOSOL provided 300 dignity kits to the government through the ministries of Health and Gender. Since this year, the organization has also provided support to 15 SGBV survivors and to a safe home.
According to a recent United Nations report, 60% of women aged 15–49 have endured physical violence, and 1 in 10 women have suffered sexual violence. The Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL), as a non-profit, non-governmental, and non-political organization that focuses on championing gender equality and access to justice, recently reported that it regularly receives upwards of 50 cases of domestic violence per week, encompassing sexual, economic, physical, and emotional abuse.
Article 3 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa guarantees every woman the right to dignity, respect as a person, free development of her personality, and protection from exploitation, degradation, and all forms of violence, particularly sexual and verbal violence. Liberia is a signatory to the protocol
The Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL) is a network of over 250 women-led and women-focused civil society organizations across Liberia. Since 1998, WONGOSOL has been at the forefront of promoting women’s rights, social justice, and good governance through advocacy, policy engagement, and grassroots mobilization.
