Young women set their sights on closing the gender gap in Liberia
Source: NDI
In 2005, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first elected female head of state in Africa, marking a milestone for the country and the continent. Although a woman occupied the highest elected office for twelve years, Liberian women continue to struggle to obtain leadership roles in politics. In hopes of reversing this trend, a group of 16 inspiring women volunteers, called the Visionary Young Women in Leadership (VYWL), are using research to help Liberian women understand and overcome the barriers that keep women from rising through the political ranks.
The members of VYWL first met as participants in an NDI training program called “Getting Ready to Lead” (GRTL), which was designed to provide women with the leadership and political skills to engage in Liberia’s 2017 election process. The VYWL formed as way to continue collaboration and promote women’s leadership after the election. The members of VYWL are between 20 and 34 years old, and come from diverse academic fields, but share a commitment to civic activism and improving their communities.
Before they could begin their work on closing the gender gap, the VYWL sought to first fill the data gap on the number of women in leadership roles. NDI trained the young women to use the Diamond Leadership Model (DLM), a tool developed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to map the number of women at different levels of leadership in four sectors of government (executive, legislative, judiciary, security). The tool uses weighted indicators to establish a power score that shows the level of women’s political empowerment.
The young women wanted to take their research a step further to understand the barriers that women face in obtaining leadership roles, and how women who had obtained senior positions were able to overcome these challenges. NDI worked with the young women to develop questions, practice their interviewing skills and set meetings with some of Liberia’s most prominent female leaders, including a minister, members of the legislature, judges and security personnel. Seventeen interviews were conducted, which supplemented the information gathered through the DLM, giving the researchers insight on potential paths to leadership positions for women.
Click here to read the full article published by NDI on 6 November 2018.
In 2005, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first elected female head of state in Africa, marking a milestone for the country and the continent. Although a woman occupied the highest elected office for twelve years, Liberian women continue to struggle to obtain leadership roles in politics. In hopes of reversing this trend, a group of 16 inspiring women volunteers, called the Visionary Young Women in Leadership (VYWL), are using research to help Liberian women understand and overcome the barriers that keep women from rising through the political ranks.
The members of VYWL first met as participants in an NDI training program called “Getting Ready to Lead” (GRTL), which was designed to provide women with the leadership and political skills to engage in Liberia’s 2017 election process. The VYWL formed as way to continue collaboration and promote women’s leadership after the election. The members of VYWL are between 20 and 34 years old, and come from diverse academic fields, but share a commitment to civic activism and improving their communities.
Before they could begin their work on closing the gender gap, the VYWL sought to first fill the data gap on the number of women in leadership roles. NDI trained the young women to use the Diamond Leadership Model (DLM), a tool developed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to map the number of women at different levels of leadership in four sectors of government (executive, legislative, judiciary, security). The tool uses weighted indicators to establish a power score that shows the level of women’s political empowerment.
The young women wanted to take their research a step further to understand the barriers that women face in obtaining leadership roles, and how women who had obtained senior positions were able to overcome these challenges. NDI worked with the young women to develop questions, practice their interviewing skills and set meetings with some of Liberia’s most prominent female leaders, including a minister, members of the legislature, judges and security personnel. Seventeen interviews were conducted, which supplemented the information gathered through the DLM, giving the researchers insight on potential paths to leadership positions for women.
Click here to read the full article published by NDI on 6 November 2018.