Mainstreaming gender

Facilitating the "engendering of the development process in post-war Liberia through institution-strengthening and capacity- building in gender mainstreaming and the advancement of women" is the aim of a project involving UNDP and Liberia's government. The "Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment" project, whose estimated cost is US$ 447,000, was signed on 2 September by Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs John Wesseh McClain and John O.Kakonge, UNDP's resident representative in Liberia, UNDP reported. Liberian women have been marginalised particularly in the areas of education, governance, decision-making, credit and health, according to UNDP. Only 22 percent of them are literate compared to 54 percent for men, according to UNDP, which said girls make up only 40 and 32 percent of enrolments in primary and secondary schools respectively. Women occupy two percent of ministerial positions, 5 percent of legislative seats and one percent of executive posts. Customary laws deny rural women the right to own and inherit property such as land and the right to access credit directly. Socio-cultural beliefs pose enormous challenges to women's reproductive health rights and curtail their educational and employment opportunities, UNDP said.