Liberian NGO Coalition, CSOs, received training in advocacy and engagement

Liberian NGO Coalition, CSOs, received training in advocacy and engagement

Liberia - 08 October, 2018

Non-state actors in Liberia have obtained skills on how to positively engage key stakeholders, including concession companies, forest structures and Forestry Development Authority of Liberia, in the management of forests through a training in advocacy and engagement held in May 2018, in Monrovia, Liberia.

The over 20 Non-State Actors trained derived from NGO Coalition, Civil Society Organizations, (CS-IFM), the National Union of Community Forest Development Committee (NUCFDC), and the Community Forest Monitoring Body (CFMB). The training was organized by Volunteers to Support International Efforts in Developing Africa (VOSIEDA) and Tropenbos International with funding support from the European Union.
Additionally, to the engagement skills, the participants learned the need to advocate using fact-based information gathered from forest activities including illegal logging and violations of Social Agreements.

It is expected that after the training, community members through existing CBOs/CSOs and forest structures could begin to take position on issues confronting concession communities as well as initiate deliberate actions to influence private and public policies during negotiation of forest investments.

Beneficiaries of the training described the workshop as great and rewarding, saying it has taken them to another level in their advocacy campaigns. According to them, these kinds of capacity building initiatives can afford them the necessary confidence to take matters into their own hands using appropriate legal remedies through the relevant advocacy and engagement techniques acquired.

Participants in group photo.jpg

The participants pleaded with the EU and its partners to continue building their capacity if they want to see transparency and accountability in forest governance.

“Even though the European Union with local partners continues to support transformational efforts aimed at securing the future of Liberia’s forest, the need for us Liberians to take appropriate action to save our forest cannot be overemphasized”.

At the close of the training, participants were asked to transfer the knowledge acquired during the workshop to others working in the forest sector so as to ensure communities benefit from their forests and other natural resources.

The training in advocacy and engagement has been developed under the EU funded project “Strengthening the capacity of non-state actors to improve FLEGT-VPA and REED+ processes in West Africa”.