The Minister of Gender, Children & Social Protection (Mogc&sp), Julia Duncan-Cassell leave the country Thursday, January 15, for Dakar, Senegal where she will represent
Liberia at an ECOWAS meeting scheduled for ministers in charge of Women and Gender Affairs in their respective countries.
According to the meeting’s details, the conference will run from the 16th and 17th of January respectively and would be observed under the general theme “Gender Equality And Sustainable Development. The organizers of the meeting indicated that they hold the promotion of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment as an effective pathway for combating poverty, hunger and disease as well as enhancing a truly sustainable development that can accelerate global development beyond 2015.
The Dakar’s meeting seeks to accomplish the following objectives; to consider, validate and adopt major documents ranging from the draft supplementary act relating to equality of rights between women and men for sustainable development in the ECOWAS region and the draft ECOWAS plan of action of Gender and trade amongst others.
Key amongst the selected objectives will be identifying the achievements, constraints and challenges on gender equality and women empowerment within the ECOWAS region as well as identifying key priority programs for the future that West African women want.
The Liberia’s Gender Minister Duncan-Cassell will be afforded the opportunity to make a presentation on the achievements, constraints and challenges of Gender Equality in the country.
Meanwhile, Minister Duncan-Cassell will make a brief stopover at the African Union Commission (AUC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where she will participate in a Pre-summit Consultative Conference under the theme “Year of Women Empowerment and Development toward Africa’s Agenda 2063.”
The conference is expected to commence on the 21st of January as a closed session with CSOs, RECs and other gender related organizations which will be followed by a special session on women, Peace and Security, including a focus on 15years since the adoption of the UN Security Resolution 1325; at which time Minister Duncan-Cassell will present Liberia’s case.