Africa-Press – Liberia. Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has said that the October 10 polls have a pivotal role in ensuring the stability and progress of the nation.
Gbowee, who played a very instrumental role in ending the second Liberian Civil War and promoting women’s rights, carries substantial weight given her extensive experience in fostering peace, reconciliation, and social change.
“It is not by accident that we are having elections exactly twenty years after the signing of the comprehensive agreement in Ghana,” Gbowee said. “20 years ago, around this time, we were all wondering and biting our nails, wondering what the future of Liberia would be after elections.
“There are many nations that have gone to war, and there are many nations that have been at war for decades, and they can find their way,” she said.
Gbowee’s commitment to Liberia’s development and her advocacy for a better future have made her a respected and influential voice both at home and on the global stage.
She made these remarks on August 4, at the Liberian Women’s Peace Summit towards Peaceful 2023 Elections, organized by the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa in collaboration with the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development.
According to her, the Liberian Women’s Peace Summit (LWPS) will provide structured consultations for Liberian women to gather, discuss critical issues for peaceful elections in 2023, and articulate a position statement for public release.
She said, “Our goal is to provide a cross-segment of Liberian women with the peace to consult, reflect, and strategize pathways to ensuring peaceful elections in 2023.”
Gbowee stressed that while recognizing the need for women to be actively engaged in politics and all political processes, it is also incumbent upon them to show leadership during the process by engaging constructively and peacefully across party lines.
“This peace, she added, is critical because violence in any shape or form will adversely impact women the most. This is a journey, but I would like to thank Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for agreeing with me. We felt that this was the right time for us to be outside speaking about peace and the need for us to sustain the peace.”
Gbowee also revealed that at the summit they will identify key issues affecting peaceful elections and women’s participation, as well as the Liberian women’s manifesto for peace in Liberia.
“We are hoping that after we have put the manifesto out in every local language and on community radio, people will hear that these are some of the things the women of Liberia want to see happen in terms of peace,” she said.
For her part, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told women at the forum that the National Election Commission has the full responsibility to ensure that Liberians vote for their respective choices.
She said, “We want our election commission to know that there are many women on that commission, but we also want men and women on the commission to know that they have a sacred duty to our country and its people to make sure that the process enables everybody to have freedom of choice.”
Sirleaf added: “We want to see a process that is free and fair; that is what our constitution calls for. We want everybody to feel safe, to go to the polls, and to cast their ballots in accordance with their hearts and their conscience.”
According to her, women want to see a Liberia where their children can grow up with the same purpose of seeking their education in a safe environment with quality schools and a good neighborhood.
The former Liberian leader further calls out for peace before, during, and after the elections. “Now, we are approaching a very important event, and that event is to choose our leaders, the constitutional duty that each of us has the responsibility for, because it is that choice we are all going to live with.
She added, “Based on peace and civility, we will be able to respect each other and be able to talk without getting into those things that lead to difference, those things that lead to unfair expression, and those things that lead to tension in society.”
“It is a collective effort, a genuine effort for women to know what the process is, to encourage each other to do the right thing, and to call upon our leaders and our institutions to abide by the constitution and do the right thing,” Sirleaf concluded.
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