Published: March 9, 2026
March 8th is recognized and celebrated worldwide as International Women’s Day. This year, because it fell on a Sunday, celebrations started as early as Friday March 6th and are continuing through today, March 9th. On Friday, many Liberian women, including a large UL delegation, attended the national International Women’s Day celebration organized by the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection at SKD Stadium. Today, Monday, UL is holding its own commemorative program at Fendall Campus, organized by UL’s new Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (OGEWE).
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Give to Gain: Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls. How might we “give to gain”? Investing in women, women’s and girls’ empowerment, gender equality, and gender justice can look like providing resources (money, things, help), opportunities (education, jobs, mentorship), or other needs (safety, voice, recognition). The list goes on. When we who are able give these things to women or girls, our actions lead to more secure rights and better lives. But there is more we can do: systemic change, that is, changing how “the system” works – those macrosystemic things that structure society and social outcomes, not only for individuals but for entire classes of people, such as women and girls.
Here’s a classic example from the educational arena: All over the world, little girls are told to speak less, stay quiet more, and let boys and men talk first. Sometimes this message is given explicitly, but other times it is conveyed subtly. Either way, by the time girls enter school, they are already less likely to talk in class, less likely to ask or answer questions, less likely to be noticed or called on by teachers, more likely to be punished if they do speak up more or behave more loudly. This inhibits learning and academic achievement, such that, on average, in places where these norms are in place, women’s academic completion and academic achievement are less. I see it at UL – all the young women students, and even women employees, who never speak unless asked—but when asked, they have amazing ideas. Sure, there are girls and women who achieve and excel – but what if more could?
For those who don’t, the lack of academic achievement leads to fewer and worse job opportunities, especially in the lucrative formal sector, less financial independence and more poverty for women (and their children!), and a greater likelihood of having to rely on a man (father, husband, brother) for survival. In cases where those men happen to be violent, it subjects more women to violent situations that they can’t leave for economic reasons and also exposes more children to violence because their mothers can’t leave. Those children, in turn, are less likely to do well in school due to what is going on at home, and the vicious cycle continues. Imagine if we only encouraged more girls to speak and ask questions at a young age, what a better world (and a better UL!) we would create with one small choice. Changing this small systemic factor would have a big impact everywhere!
At the University of Liberia, we are still struggling to attain gender parity among students, faculty, and staff. It is an important goal of ours, and we are doing many things to achieve it. Our new Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (OGEWE), led by its inaugural Director, Janet Y. Lolemeh, serves as the touchpoint of these efforts, which are part of UL’s overall social inclusion strategy. OGEWE’s objectives include fostering a climate of gender equality and women’s empowerment on the UL Campus, ensuring compliance with national policies related to gender, strengthening UL’s policy climate and accountability mechanisms related to gender and SGBV, fostering participatory gender equality and women’s empowerment across UL, overseeing activities related to gender equality and women’s empowerment at UL, and creating and managing messaging related to gender equality and women’s empowerment for the UL community. OGEWE will also engage in monitoring and evaluation activities to collect gender data about UL and track progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, and we will partner with other organizations, including development entities who are engaged in the same kind of work to advance larger goals together. Ultimately, the OGEWE office will also serve as a women’s safe space on campus.
It takes a broad and focused effort to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment anywhere. At UL, we are making that effort with intentionality, recognizing the urgency of making the world a better place for women. Just last week, we lost one of our female students, Ms. Cynthia Sirleaf, a public health student who died due to complications of childbirth. She was a lively, promising, talented student. Her tragic death was unnecessary, because, in this day and age, childbirth can be a safe and rewarding experience. So let us think about Cynthia as we think about making the world a better place for women, and let her memory inspire our efforts, especially at UL.
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