UNMIL supported instituting the MOJ’s Gender Office

23 May 2017

UNMIL supported instituting the MOJ’s Gender Office

Monrovia - On 18 May 2017, UNMIL supported the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in establishing its gender office. The inauguration ceremony was chaired by Assistant Minister of Justice for Administration and Public Safety Cllr. Frederick Gbmie and attended by officials from the Ministry of Defense, Governance Commission, Liberia Immigration Services, Drug Enforcement Agency, Liberia Fire Service, Bureau of Correction and Rehabilitation, and private security companies.

The Assistant Minister thanked UNMIL for the support and stated that the creation of the dedicated Gender Office demonstrates the commitment of the Government of Liberia (GoL) to eliminate all forms of gender based discrimination in the security sector. The UNMIL Security Sector Reform (SSR) Officer, Germana Dalberto, congratulated the MOJ for establishing an institutional framework where women and men will equally participate, access, and benefit from all the country’s security sector reform efforts.

Ms. Dalberto encouraged the MOJ’s Gender Advisor to enhance the coordination among the security sector actors and develop solid strategies to achieve the 30% minimum representation of women at all levels of the security sector institutions.

The establishment of the MOJ Gender Office is part of UNMIL efforts to ensure the sustainability of the gender initiatives developed by the Liberia’s security sector institutions over the last year. The Gender Office will enable the MOJ to govern, oversee and provide secretariat services to the newly established Gender and Security Sector National Taskforce as well as support and coordinate security institutions through the development of national gender equality programmes.