-Minister Saydee Tarr Asserts
By Jackson C. Clay, Jr.
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), Williametta Saydee-Tarr says the presence of women at the level of the legislature, cabinet and within other sectors of government is very low.
Speaking Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at the National Awareness and Validation of Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) report in Monrovia, Minister Saydee-Tarr said Liberia still has a long way to go in achieving its target.
“The main thing is about gender equality and right now we have a very long way to go as a country. We really have to do more to ensure that participation into politics, especially at the level of the cabinet and the legislature,” Minister Saydee-Tarr said.
Minister Saydee-Tarr indicated that currently the presence of women at the legislature, particularly the House of Representatives is very low, thus, out of 73 members only 9 women.
The MGCSP Minister stated that they as a ministry and women groupings are going to ensure that the presence of women on the national stage is at an appreciable level.
“Right now, we only have ten women, one at the Liberian Senate out of thirty and nine at the House of Representatives out of seventy-three. So, this is something that we are fighting and we are going to make sure that empowering women where they can be able to represent their constituent adequately,” Minister Saydee-Tarr noted.
She indicated that the validation process of the document is aimed at taking a stock of where Liberia was in the past and where it is now in terms of women participations in the country.
Minister Saydee-Tarr noted that the Beijing Platform is a document created to champion women issues across the world.
Next year 2020 will mark twenty-five years (25) since the document was first launched on how to remove what they consider as systemic barriers that hold women back from equal participation in all areas of life.
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