Monrovia, Liberia – President George Weah wants existing legislations, policies and standards improved and strengthened to support the response against rape and other forms of Sexual and Gender Based violence.
President Weah said Government plans to achieve effective results from the fight against SGBV by adopting a new approach in all sectors.
Speaking Tuesday at the opening of the two-day SGBV National Conference at the Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, President Weah said the meeting seeks to derive at solutions to end rape in Liberia.
“A National Call To Action: Inclusive Involvement to Fight Rape and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Liberia”, the Liberian Leader urged stakeholders to discuss openly and contribute collectively to determine the best practices and procedures that would enable the government and people of Liberia prevent and end rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence in the Country.
“This urgent call to action is in response to an alarming increase in rape and sexual and gender-based violence in recent times, especially during a time when we are at war with the deadly Covid-19 pandemic,” the president noted.
He acknowledged that “we are in fact witnessing what is actually an epidemic of rape within the pandemic, affecting mostly children and young girls across the country.”
The two day conference is one of several recommendations in the SGBV Roadmap Document that was recently endorsed by President Weah for implementation.
“At the end of this conference, the proposals derived will be taken into account and serve as a validation of the “Government of Liberia & Partners’ Roadmap on Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Violence 2020-2022”.
“Following the review of this Roadmap over the next two days of our deliberations, the Government plans to achieve effective results by adopting a new approach to addressing the sexual and gender-based violence-prevention process across all sectors, which will be characterized by adequately-funded prevention and response mechanisms,” the Liberian Chief Executive further added.
He pointed out that Roadmap will be fully “inclusive of every possible thought we have on fighting this menace to our society, with the objective of improving our coordinated national response”.
“We also want to ensure that our women, girls, boys and other vulnerable people at risk of abuse in our society will have increased access to information, protection and specialized services”, President Weah stressed.
“As President, I want to assure you that I remain relentless in my commitment to the cause of reducing and eradicating sexual and gender-based violence in Liberia,” the president assured Liberians and partners.
The Liberian Leader, as Chair of the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on SGBV, assured that the Roadmap Document will be inclusive of every recommendation to win the fight against the prevailing societal menace.
