www.womenscolloquium.org

MONROVIA, LIBERIA MARCH 7&8 2009

ABOUT LIBERIABackgroundLiberia, Africa's oldest republic established in 1847, was founded in 1821 through the efforts of the American Colonization Society, and was settled by freed American slaves, who joined the indigenous people of Liberia who largely make up the population. This coastal country, bounded on the north by Sierra Leone and Guinea, on the east by Côte d'Ivoire, and on the south and west by the Atlantic Ocean, thrived as a nation until the brutal 14-year civil war began in 1989. In 2006 history was made when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected president, becoming Africa's first female ruler. Today, Liberia is on the road to recovery, and the people of Liberia are determined to restore Liberia to the once-thriving nation of export, agriculture, commerce, and tourism.

General FactsLiberia has an area of 99,067 square kilometers (38,250 square miles) and Monrovia is the capital and largest city. Outside of city limits, Liberia, rich in natural resources like iron ore, rubber, timber, diamonds, coffee and cocoa, teems with more than 2,000 species of flora and fauna. Liberia is comprised of numerous waterways and beautiful rain forest vistas; One of West Africa's most pristine rain forests is the Sapo National Park, a natural wonder for ecotourists. The official language of Liberia is English but at least 17 tribal dialects are also spoken. These include Bandi, Bassa, Belle, Gio, Grebo, Gola, Kissi, Kpelle, Kru, Lorma, Mano, Mandingo, Mende, Sapo, and Vai.

Artwork Milly Buchanan millyb14@yahoo.com & Oudvin Cassell ochirhil@yahoo.comPhotography Cachelle Ink Studios www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=34197Writer/Editor Teri Weefur WeefurWorks www.weefurworks.comLayout Debra Bernard www.dbstylz.com

Finland www.government.fi/etusivu/en.jsp

Africa Union www.africa-union.org/root/au/index/index.htm

The African Women's Development Fund www.awdf.org/web

UNECA www.uneca.org

Government of Liberia www.emansion.gov.lr

Global Fund for Women www.globalfundforwomen.org/cms

European Commission http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

Sweden Swedish Colloquium Assistantwww.sweden.gov.se

MO Ibrahim Foundation www.moibrahimfoundation.org/index.asp

SPONSORSMonrovia, Liberia | March 7-8, 2009 www.womenscolloquium.org

Coinciding with International Women's Day (March 8), women leaders from around the world will convene for the International Colloquium for Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security (the Colloquium) at the SKD Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. The Colloquium, conceptualized in 2006 during the inauguration of Africa’s first female President, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, will bring together 400 international participants and 400 Liberian national participants, including female leaders; heads of state and government; ministers; CEOs, presidents and executive directors; and NGO and community leaders. The Conference, co-convened by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland, seeks to create an environment for women and their champions around the world to discuss, learn, demonstrate and act on the benefits and lessons learned from women in leadership.

Colloquium Objectives: • The Colloquium will empower women to be more effective leaders by linking them with their peers from around the world. Among the participants will be female leaders at various levels, including Heads of State and Government and Ministers, as well as NGO and female business leaders.

• Launching the Angie Brooks International Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security in Monrovia. This Centre will support the implementation of action emerging from the Colloquium through, inter alia, training and research.

• Discussions of the Colloquium will be inspired by UN Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted on October 31, 2000, which calls for women's participation in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace building as activists pursuing peace and security.

• The Colloquium will consider concrete action for empowerment of women in development. It will give consideration to measures aimed at achieving Millennium Development Goal 3 on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment.

• The Colloquium will also consider gender and climate change issues with the aim of strengthening women's participation in sustainable development, creating sustainable livelihoods in rural areas, protecting the environment and natural resources, and addressing climate change.

INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY

Colloquium Effects on LiberiaAs Liberia dedicates herself to creating a brighter future by putting an emphasis on empowerment, education, and peace, the country and its citizens stand to benefit in many ways from the 2009 Colloquium. Building Women’s Entrepreneurship, a major project managed by the Ministry of Gender, will conduct a national assessment tour garnering women exhibitors who will participate in the Exhibition of Liberian Women Entrepreneurship at SKD Stadium on March 7th and 8th, 2009. Prior to the exhibition, all selected participants will be trained in business presentation, sales and negotiation skills. Other sustainable skills training will include product finishing, business, marketing, financial, negotiation, and contract skills. The exhibition provides a rare opportunity for local businesses to showcase their talents, services and goods to an international audience of women world leaders. Additionally, the conference will showcase and jumpstart Liberia’s tourism industry, through which the service sector of Liberia will benefit greatly from additional and extensive training that will lead to a long term upgrade of Liberia’s service and hospitality industry. From December to February, 2009, 50-100 young people will be trained in hospitality and protocol, and placed at hotels and the airport during conference. The Colloquium will give Liberia the opportunity to become a major player in the world’s thriving travel industry by sending the message to meeting planners globally that Liberia is a great destination for conventions, as well as a country rich in natural beauty to visit.

Colloquium OrganizationThe Colloquium is co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, Honorable Olubanke King-Akerele, and the Minister of Gender and Development of Liberia, Honorable Vabah Gayflor. Counselor Yvette Chesson-Wureh, the Colloquium Manager, heads International Secretariat. Other key members include the following:

• Vice Chair for Africa: Bineta Diop, Executive Director, Femmes Africa Solidarite in Senegal

• Vice Chair for Europe and the Middle East: Honorable Elizabeth Rehn, Minister of State for Finland (first female Minister of Defense in the world)

• Vice Chair for the Americas: Dr. Carole Henderson Tyson, the Council of Women World Leaders

The Council of Women World Leaders, comprised of all sitting (and former) women Heads of State, will have its annual conference in Liberia, hosted by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, marking its first ever in Africa.

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COLLOQUIUM GOALS AND THEME LEADS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT Goal 1: Empower women to be more effective leaders by linking them with their peers from around the world and sharing best practices.

• Build global networks and facilitate collective action among women leaders that incorporate Liberian and other African women from conflict-affected areas. Theme Lead: African Women's Development Fund (Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi); Partners include TLC Africa

• Share and further develop effective models of economic empowerment and decent work for women and men. Theme Lead: International Trade Centre (Sabine Meitzel); Partners include Cisco Systems; AWDF; ILO; Realizing Rights; Association of Black Charities

• Engage young people in supporting and embracing women's empowerment, leadership development and contributions to international peace and security. Theme Lead: World YWCA (Natalie Fisher-Spalton); Partners include World Association of Girl Guides/Girl Scouts; UNICEF; UNFPA; ILO

• Amplify the efforts and achievements of women leaders in conflict-affected areas. Theme Lead: UNIFEM; Partners include Femmes Africa Solidarite; Sudanese Women's Forum; Kenyan Women's Coalition; Government of Norway; UNIFEM Regional Director in Rwanda and others.

Goal 2: Support the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325

Goal 3: Contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal #3 on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, including building capacity and resources of government and non-governmental institutions to work for women's rights and economic empowerment

• Share lessons learned on reaching MDG 3 across regions and adapt strategies from other countries to the Liberian context, particularly in the areas of women's political participation and related to gender-based violence

Theme Lead: Government of Finland (Aira Kalela);Partners to be determined

• Strengthen women's participation in sustainable development, particularly in developing of sustainable livelihoods in rural areas related with climate change:

• Electrification of rural areas and providing other forms of energy with renewable sources

• Increasing of forest areas, sustainable forest management including agro forestry

• Adaptation and development of agricultural methods, crops and irrigation in dry lands and flooding areas

• Development of water management and sanitation in dry or flooding regions

• Make women leaders aware of the role of women in management of natural resources and linkage between gender and climate change

• Make women leaders aware of various resources of financing, which could be used, both for mitigation and adaptation of climate change as well as facilitate programs and projects for financing

Theme Lead: Lalla Ben Barka, Deputy Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa; Partners include Honorable Olubanke King-Akerele, Liberian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Carole Henderson Tyson, Realizing Rights

Goal 4: Demonstrate the clear gender dimensions of climate change, environment protection and sustainable development

Goal 5: Launch the Angie Brooks International Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security, in Monrovia to support the implementation of action emerging from the Colloquium through, inter alia, training and research

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Theme Lead: Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women; Liberian Minister of Gender and Development Vabah Gayflor, supported by Colloquium Secretariat’ Partners include UNIFEM; Women, Faith and Development Alliance

Theme Lead: Femmes Africa Solidarite (Bineta Diop) Partners include Liberian Ministry of Gender and Development; Government of Iceland; Realizing Rights; UNIFEM; UNMIL and other UN agencies; Mano River Union and others

• Present a status report on implementation of SCR 1325, including concrete recommendations on monitoring and accountability mechanisms

• Facilitate the networking of African women that leads to the implementation of 1325, including support for concrete programs for Liberian women as a response to a Liberia country-level implementation plan for SCR 1325. Theme Lead: Liberian Minister of Gender and Development, Vabah Gayflor, supported by Colloquium Secretariat

• Prepare an action plan that includes a Colloquium statement from Presidents Johnson-Sirleaf and Halonen to the Security Council calling for stronger accountability mechanisms for 1325 and other measures.

• Consider the impact of migration and returning refugees on development and women's empowerment. Theme Lead: Ndiro Ndiaye, International Organization for Migration

THE ANGIE BROOKS INTERNATIONAL CENTRE ON WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY The Angie Brooks Centre The Colloquium will announce the March 2009 launch of the Angie Brooks International Centre on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, Peace and Security, to be based in Monrovia. The Centre will support the implementation of actions emerging from the Colloquium, through training to empower current and future women leaders, and research, analysis and advocacy on women’s leadership. The Centre, to be based on the University of Liberia campus at Fendel, will honor Angie Brooks, Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Africa’s first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly (1969). Its establishment is symbolic in that through it, women in leadership roles worldwide are being honored. The Centre will be a proactive and practical instrument of research, workshops and training in women’s empowerment and leadership development, and as such, will ensure sustainability of the results of the Colloquium.

Areas of Focus of the Centre • Research • Training • Intergenerational Legacies and Leadership Development • Advocacy

Collaborating Programs and CentresEfforts have been initiated to explore how the proposed Centre could cooperate with related centres worldwide, in Jordan (United Nations University International Leadership Institute), Canada (Centre for Research and Teaching on Women, at McGill University in Montreal), and the United States (Women in International Security, at Georgetown University). Others are the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement, the Cairo Regional Centre for Peace and International Cooperation in Egypt, the Gender Equality Research Centre and Gender Equality Training Program at the University in Iceland as well as the Peacekeeping Training Institute in Iceland.

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UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325 The Colloquium seeks to realize the aims of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security to ensure that women are protected from the worst abuses in times of conflict and to empower them to play their rightful and vital role in helping their countries prevent, end and recover from conflict. The Colloquium will bring together an international group of women leaders to identify the successes and failures of measures adopted for 1325; to serve as a resource base and catalyst for activity worldwide; and to develop and support meaningful strategies and activities for increasing global security.

CAPACITY-BUILDING PROJECTSThe Colloquium will initiate other capacity-building projects such as the Young Professional Emerging Leaders Dialogue Series, one of which will establish a 5-region dialogue series entitled Uncovering Barriers to Women’s Political Leadership: Today’s Leaders Reach Out to Tomorrow’s Leaders. This series, which precedes the conference from December to January 2009, will feature live interviews of and participation from current and former women heads of state interacting with a global audience of future world leaders. Each dialogue will produce recommendations and solutions on how to break down gender barriers to leadership.

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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world…it is the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead, Anthropologist