Monrovia — Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung has proposed the creation of extra legislative seats completely for ladies as a part of efforts to fulfill Liberia’s long-standing purpose of 30 % feminine illustration within the Nationwide Legislature.
By Emmanuel Weedee-Conway
Talking on the induction ceremony of the Ladies’s Legislative Caucus (WLC) on Tuesday, VP Koung mentioned knowledge from the latest nationwide census might be used to find out the allocation of the brand new seats. He reaffirmed the Government Department’s dedication to attaining the gender quota.
“We’ve made some progress towards attaining 30 % girls’s illustration, however we’re not there but,” Koung said. “To bridge this hole, we should leverage the census to create seats particularly for ladies in areas the place they stand a robust likelihood of successful.”
The Vice President, who represented the President on the occasion, praised the brand new WLC management and cited the historic contributions of ladies to Liberia’s progress. He mentioned the federal government would proceed to assist initiatives aimed toward rising girls’s participation in governance.
Home Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon, who served as visitor speaker, expressed concern over the low variety of girls within the Legislature. He cited knowledge exhibiting that girls make up almost 50 % of Liberia’s inhabitants however solely 10 % of the Legislature.
“We can not transfer ahead as a nation whereas leaving half our folks behind,” VP Koon mentioned. He known as for stronger authorized mechanisms, together with the reintroduction of the Gender Parity Invoice, which he authored. The invoice handed within the Home however stalled within the Senate on account of authorized considerations.
Speaker Koon referenced a number of failed legislative makes an attempt to introduce gender quotas, together with in 2004, 2010–2011, 2016–2017, and 2022–2023. The newest effort, a revised Election Legislation in 2022, was weakened within the Senate amid debate over its enforcement provisions.
Rep. Ellen Attoh Wreh of Margibi County Electoral District 3, who was inducted as Chair of the Ladies’s Legislative Caucus, pledged to push for a binding Gender Parity Invoice and a complete framework for ladies’s political inclusion.
“Although Liberia has made progress, our numbers within the Legislature stay low,” she mentioned. “As Chair, I’ll advocate for laws and coverage that mirror girls’s priorities.”
Senate Professional Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, who officiated the induction, underscored the significance of sustained assist for the Caucus, notably in securing assets.
UN Ladies Nation Consultant Consolation Lamptey counseled the Caucus and emphasised the necessity for ladies’s priorities to be mirrored in nationwide coverage. She reaffirmed UN Ladies’s continued assist for selling girls’s management in Liberia.
