The Liberian Women, Peace and Development Bridge is a one-year project expected to be implemented with the overall goal of exploring and making use of opportunities that will further help to promote learning & the empowerment of women and girls by increasing and sustaining their voices for Peace and Development in Post war Liberia, but also in the Liberian diaspora in the United States of America. This project will make visible the potential role of the diaspora in sustaining peace in Liberia.
The three main problems being tackled by this project are (1) There is a problem of women's limited participation and voice regarding issues of peacebuilding and development (2) Despite the remittances made by the Liberian diaspora towards Liberia, there's a big disconnect between those at home & abroad and (3) there exist stereotypes and misconceptions about those on both sides of the divide-home and abroad. As such, the peace, reconciliation & development efforts in Liberia have been impacted.
Establish a baseline on peace and development efforts and the role of women & girls within diaspora communities in 5 states in America; Create a platform for information sharing through dialogues & conferences to identify challenges & strategies, but also solicit recommendations for programming to support and sustain women peacebuilding, economic and community development initiatives; Build capacities for community actions and develop a cross country exchange program to enhance networking
At least 500 women, girls and Liberian communities would be impacted beyond borders. Capacities would be built for increasing women and girl's participation in peace and development processes; misconceptions would begin changing and relationships for community building, development and partnership building would be fostered in Liberia and the United States. The project will also facilitate processes of networking and solidarity building involving women & young women professionals and girls.
