Women of Dignity - Liberia

Support women in Liberia.

Project Information

Description:

The Empowering Women With Dignity project helps women like Faith learn job skills to improve their economic conditions. Many women in Liberia don’t have the opportunity to finish their education, and gender inequality is a persistent problem in the country. Marriage is considered to be an economic proposition, and so parents are encouraged to marry their daughters early, reinforcing an unbalanced power dynamic.

Before they reach adulthood, girls’ futures are limited. In fact:

• 36 percent of girls in Liberia are married before age 18
• Only 17 percent of girls in Liberia receive secondary-level schooling
• Liberia ranks 150 out of 159 countries on the gender inequality index

Gender inequality and widespread early marriage combined with difficulty accessing higher education means women in Liberia struggle to improve their economic conditions. The Church of the Nazarene in Monrovia realized that by teaching women, lives would be changed. The vocational classes run through the Empowering Women With Dignity project offer women opportunities to improve their economic conditions, uplift their families and communities, and affirm their God-given dignity.