| By Ima Myers (October 19th 2005)
"...The dawn of the elections in Liberia, brought back hope, not only to Liberians, but also to the disempowered women in Africa. The pictures and video clips of pregnant women, mothers with children on their backs, and elderly women waking up at the crack of dawn to get on those long winding queues to vote, was a clarion call that these women held on to hope – hope that their journey to the ballot box could significantly improve their lives, and that of their children...” |
With a female, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, emerging as one of the top contenders in the run-off elections for Liberia’s presidency; it must be acknowledged that Liberia, the first independent republic in Africa, has once again re-emerged from decades of unrest, suffering and brutality to set the stage for other African nations to follow.
As women like Wangari Maathai of Kenya and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria stand up to fight corruption and improve their nations; one must look to Liberia, and ponder if this election could not only cleanse the ills of the past, but also give birth to Africa’s first female president.
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The dawn of the elections in Liberia, brought back hope, not only to Liberians, but also to the disempowered women in Africa.
The pictures and video clips of pregnant women, mothers with children on their backs, and elderly women waking up at the crack of dawn to get on those long winding queues to vote, was a clarion call that these women held on to hope – hope that their journey to the ballot box could significantly improve their lives, and that of their children.
The urgent need to impact significant improvements to the lives of Liberian women and children was confirmed by the 2004 study "State of the World’s Mothers 2004"released by Save |
the Children.The report detailed the plight faced by these women and further cited how low participation of women in government was the main cause of slowed improvement to the conditions of mothers in most of Africa. The study rightly asserted that, “When women have a voice in public institutions, they can participate directly in governance processes, and advocate for issues of particular importance to women and children.”
It is therefore, breathtaking to watch Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf - a Harvard-educated economist, former World Bank official, mother of four and grandmother of six, rising to the occasion in Liberia’s elections.
Sirleaf, who once said in an interview that being a woman is not a handicap has indeed had that sentiment echoed by the disempowered and vulnerable women of Africa, who continuously hold on to the hope that the next trip to ballot box will be the lifeline to a better life for them, and their children.
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About the author:
The author, Ima Myers , currently works as a Research Statistician in Ottawa, Canada. Mrs. Myers is also the Vice president of DOVAfrica, a capacity building NGO.
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