Ahead of the impending October 10, 2023 presidential and legislative elections, the African Platform for Human Rights and Governance (APHURG) has trained over one-hundred Liberians in anti-violence activities.
The one-day intensive training in the Borough of New Kru Town, Montserrado County was basically on creating awareness on identifying the causes of violence and modes of mitigating same using the human rights based approach and the law.
The activity is a pilot to series of similar training that is expected to take place in the seventeen electoral districts of Montserrado County.
It is being held under the theme: “Seventeen days’ action towards the alleviation of electoral violence in Liberia” (communities’ awareness and sensitization outreach initiative in the seventeen electoral districts of Montserrado County) and it will run from June 17, 2023 to September 30, 2023.
Giving an overview of the activity, the Executive Director of APHURG, Atty. Bowoulo T. Kelley said the training will help identify causes of violence before, during, and after the elections, and will equip Communities with the necessary tools to prevent or minimize the occurrences and effects of electoral violence.
“Being cognizant of fact that violence leads to a breakdown in the democratic space, and the violation of the citizens fundamental
rights to vote or be voted for, APHURG believes that some interventions are needed to prevent or minimize electorate this crucial period in the country,”
According to her, the four-month activities are aimed at re-enforcing an ongoing fight against violence across the country with focus on Montserrado County.
During the course of the activities, APHURG will identify and work with Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Montserrado County who are involved with gender- based violence as well as electoral violence issues in the county.
Atty. Bowoulo T. Kelley also said the organization will provide basic awareness and training to empower CBOs and community members to continue creating awareness against violence in the county and identify community leaders who can be provided with essential knowledge on violence prevention and conflict resolution techniques.
The APHURG boss further said it is expected that at the end of the activities, they will increase awareness on the danger of electoral violence and violence against women in election for inclusive political participation.
“Acquired knowledge on how to identify early signs of violence, prevent or manage violence in their community. Strengthen knowledge on how to intervene in conflict situation and become peace ambassadors in their communities. Obtain knowledge on how to detect signs of violence and methods of resolution,” she said added.
There were presentations made during the workshop and participants were drilled on vices that have the propensities to cause violence and how they can be mitigated.
They were drilled on election offenses, electoral complaint mechanism, hearing and determination of complaints, decisions on complaints, among others.
The participants at the end of the workshop commended APHURG for providing the knowledge at the right time ahead of a much-anticipated October 10, 2023 presidential and legislative elections. According to them, the training was insightful and they promised to wisely use knowledge gained in serving as agents of change in making the pending elections, and other elections violence free.
The African Platform for Human Rights and Governance (APHURG) was established in January 2021 to fill the gap in substantive human rights focusing on litigation, human rights education, legal review and reforms and advocacy-based research.
The organization after assessing the civic space, decided to challenge the existing situation of human rights in post war Liberia. The organization is essentially staffed by lawyers and policy experts in different spheres of the legal professions.
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