BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Naymote Partners for Democratic Development, a pro-democracy advancement institution, is calling on young women attending Grand Bassa Community College to take advantage of its Young Women Political Empowerment and Leadership Program.

The program is a political empowerment, mentorship, and leadership program for young women and is supported by the Canadian government through U.N. Women. The organization will enroll at least 75 young women between the ages 18 and 35 in the first cycle.

On Thursday, February 21, female staff of the organization headed by the deputy program officer and project coordinator, Peace Mahteh-Boyee, spoke to female students attending GBCC to educate them on the application process.

According to Mahteh-Boyee, NAYMOTE was encouraging mainly young women who are passionate about politics to apply for the one-year mentorship in political leadership. She said one of the goals of the program was to address the low participation of women in the country’s politics.

“So, we are encouraging young women to participate in this program because we know that when women are at the level of the legislature, they will be able to address issues that [a]re affecting women and they understand those issues well and they will ensure that legislation around women issues are enacted,” she said.

She also identified cultural traditional practices that prevented most women from obtaining formal education as one of the major reasons for low participation. She said the program seeks to enroll five young women in each of the 15 counties.

The project is part of a regional program being rolled out in four African countries – Central African Republic, Nigeria, Guinea, and Liberia – to help build an enabling environment for women to participate in politics by increasing community and civic understanding of gender equality and women’s right to political participation.

With the training, Mahteh-Boyee said the capacities of beneficiaries would be built mobilize resources to fund campaigns and participate in political decision making and provide mentorship support for other young women to pursue political leadership.

“The mentorship component of the regional project aims to strengthen the capacity of young women to take on leadership roles in the public sector,” she said.

“Based on this component, the project is a political organizing and leadership development program focusing on training young women who are ready to commit themselves full time to working in public service.”

She believes at the end of the program, the barriers against having more women to effectively in politics and decision making processes and leadership would be addressed.

Enrollment in the program is limited to young women who are currently in college or have a university degree and demonstrate a high level of interest and commitment to public service.

Featured photo by Sampson David