The president of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL) Philomena T. Williams, has underscored the need for the employment of more women at the concessions as well as the creation of an enabling environment for women to thrive in their professional careers.
Speaking at capacity development training project is sponsored by the United Nations Women with support from the United Nations Peace Building Fund in Bomi County for the workforce and management of the Western Cluster Management in Tubmanburg, Atty. Williams said as a means of implementing such, she encouraged concession management to be intentional in adopting policies that will integrate a gender perspective in all of their processes.
The capacity development training which brought together a hundred workers especially those whose employment have been outsource to different entities by Western Cluster Management.
The focus of the training was on the fundamentals of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Gender Based violence especially in the workplace, and the importance of having regulations and policies that are gender sensitive in the concession.
Speaking on the fundamentals of the United Nations Guiding Principles on business and human rights, the Vice president of AFELL, Bowoulo Taylor Kelley, highlighted the State’s existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms.
She indicated the role of business enterprises as specialized organs of society performing specialized functions, required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights including the need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached.
Cllr. Evelyn Lah Gongloe spoke on sexual and gender-based violence in the workplace and how to identify same, and the referral pathway for reporting said violations.
Under the project; Enhancing peace and social cohesion through the promotion of equitable access to and the use of land for rural women in conflict prone communities and concession areas, the ongoing engagement and trainings are being conducted with concession companies in four counties namely: Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount and Nimba Counties.
Also speaking at the training were some of the workers who used the opportunity to call on the management to provide better incentives, benefits, and an improved Labor standard on the concession.
The Western Cluster Liberia management represented by its Head of operations, Mr. Devaraj in response to the workers call assures the company’s commitment to ensuring equal participation of women in the workforce by instituting policies that would support the rights of women working at the concession.
He also promised to work with the female lawyers to ensure peaceful coexistence with the workforce and the communities.
The training is part of ongoing campaign by the AFLL aimed at ensuring gender mainstreaming into the policies and procedures at the various concessions in Liberia.
The move of the campaign was to also ensure the holistic protection and promotion of the rights of women.
