by Emmanuel Bryma Momoh

09 December 2008

Zwedru, Liberia: From Liberia, Emmanuel Bryma Momoh, a UNV volunteer Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Human Rights and Protection Section, shares his thoughts and activities from 16 days dedicated to promoting human rights. A national of Sierra Leone, he is currently the only Human Rights Officer in Grand Gedeh County, an area spanning more than 10,000 square kilometres with a population of 125,000.

In the quest to reclaim the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) through the theme 'Dignity and Justice for All of Us' I am proud to be a leading partner in the UDHR60 campaign in Grand Gedeh County, Liberia. It comes at a time when both women’s rights and human rights are being challenged here.

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign was dedicated to celebrating the 60th anniversary of UDHR and cooperating with other partners we organized activities and events from 25 November to 10 December.

25 November 2008: International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women. I led an Gender-Based Violence sensitization team, comprising representatives from the Women's Network Group, the Justice and
Peace Commission, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the Ministry of Gender and Development. We targeted two communities outside Zwedru City in an effort to link the UDHR60 campaign to the advocacy of women’s rights and efforts to end gender inequality, violence against women and injustice.

1 December 2008: World AIDS Day. Along with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, we celebrated this event by marching through the principal street of Zwedru city and distributed condoms in keeping with the theme 'Keep the Promise'. The 'promise' is about ending discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, and instead respecting their dignity.


3 December 2008: International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In order to create awareness among members of the public about the problems of disabled people, we organized and coordinated a 'World Disability Day' event, probably for the first time in the history of Grand Gedeh County. The occasion involved a march past called ‘Walk to Freedom’ which symbolized the distance disabled people still have to cover to achieve true freedom, self reliance and economic independence.

8-9 December 2008. We brought traditional women’s leaders to the forefront of the UDHR60 Anniversary and 16 Days of Activism campaign. Human Rights Officers conducted a workshop for 40 traditional women’s leaders in an effort to share stories of their experiences, disseminate information about women’s rights and the challenges of violence against women.

10 December 2008: Human Rights Day. We are preparing school human rights club members for a role-play on the UDHR60 anniversary. More to follow...

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign began in 1991, led by the Women's Global Leadership Institute and sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership. Participants chose the dates, 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and 10 December, Human Rights Day, to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights.