The Country Representative of UN Women in Liberia Madam Comfort Lamptey has promised more gender support to Liberia’s defense sector.
Speaking Friday, April 19, 2024 when she paid a visit to the Ministry of National Defense, Madam Lamptey said that UN Women look forward to continued collaboration in strengthening the Ministry of National Defense Department of Gender and Social Inclusion.
According to her, “we will do all that we can to support you because we like to showcase successful women in leadership.”
It is through the support from UN Women that the Ministry of National Defense launched its gender policy and five-year action plan which are being successfully implemented and gradually achieved, respectively.
Making remarks, Acting Defense Minister, Brigadier General Geraldine Janet George (Retired) expressed her thanks and appreciation to UN Women for the opportunities given, not only to Liberia but also to the Armed Forces of Liberia through the Elsie Initiative Fund to increase the participation of military women in peace operations.
She disclosed that the Elsie Initiative Fund seeks to accelerate progress towards achieving the United Nations gender targets in line with the Security Council resolutions and Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy helping to close the gap to parity.
She said, created by the United Nations and Canada in 2019, the Elsie Initiative Fund supports the sustainable deployment and meaningful participation of uniformed women peacekeepers by offering financial assistance through project funding and/or providing a Gender Strong Unit (GSU) premium where Member States deploy a substantial representation of women among formed units or troops including at command level.
The Acting Defense Minister said one of her priorities for staff at the Ministry of National Defense is capacity building in all spectrums of national security, which can seamlessly be achieved by working along with UN Women.
