MONROVIA, Montserrado – The Women Legislative Caucus of Liberia has inducted its newly elected officers to steer the affairs of the cuscus for the next three years.

Those elected on Tuesday, May 15 are Rep. Rosana Schaack as chair, Rep. Munah Pelham-Youngblood as co-chair for international affairs, Rep. Julie Wiah as chair for national affairs, Sen. Geraldine Doe-Sheriff as secretary, Rep. Rustolyn S. Dennis as financial secretary, and Rep. Ellen Attoh as treasurer.

Former senator and now Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor served as the installing officer and keynote speaker for the program. She said there are fewer women now in the National Legislature than there were in 2005, adding that many women are not interested in politics because women in politics are held to a much higher standard than their male counterparts.

She said over the next six years the Women Legislative Caucus will need to actively campaign to seek other women to join political parties and be active in their districts, instead of waiting until the last six months before elections to express their intentions.

She said the caucus must continue to advocate for the improvement in the standard of women living across the country and encourage them to join politics.

“The reason I believe women joining the legislature is very important is because major decisions are taken there,” she said. “When you gather around the table and do your oversight, provide support to the budget and the voices of women are silent at the table, it means women’s voices across the country have not been heard.”

Howard Taylor said most counties have no voices from women in the upper echelons of politics.

“Who will talk about the needs of women coming from other districts who are not represented here?” she added.

Out of a total of 1,026 individuals qualifying as candidates to contest in the October 2017 elections, only 163 were females, constituting 15.9 percent.

The elections law provides that political parties and coalitions submitting candidates for an election should “endeavor” to ensure that there is no less than 30 percent of candidates from each gender. However, no political party met the gender requirement and NEC had said it would not penalize the parties.

The vice president said these dire statistics show that much is needed to increase participation by women in politics.

She added: “It has always been a challenge having the number in the legislature and maybe it always will be, but should we stop trying and encouraging one another? I say no. We must ensure that no one is left behind no matter how difficult, because that’s the women’s agenda.”

The newly elected head of the caucus, Schaack, said some of the challenges faced in getting women into political offices have been traditional culture, religious values and norms, male domination, limited formal education for women, low economic empowerment, and high illiteracy rate among women.

She emphasized the need for the female lawmakers to mobilize their male counterparts to work with them on crucial legislation to improve women’s representation.

Schaack named the domestic violence bill, the pending Land Rights Act, the affirmative action bill, and the ongoing constitutional review process as possible avenues for improving the political power of women.

“We are hopeful with this three years working with the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection; civil society organizations; and other government institutions, U.N. agencies; and the donor communities that we will bring results in closing the gender gap,” she noted.

Featured photo by Ida Reeves