IRI Conducts First National Leadership Academy in Liberia

November 8, 2004

IRI-Liberia commenced a two-day National Leadership Workshop for registered political parties in Liberia. The training was attended by approximately 41 participants over each of the two days from 16 registered political parties. The leadership workshop focused on important themes such as the ability to identify leadership skills, the ability to select responsible leaders, party structure organization, the importance of women and youth participation in political parties, and internal party cohesion. All of these themes are critical to strengthening the political parties in Liberia. At least 30 percent of the participants at the training were women. The principal facilitator at the training workshop was Steve Edwards, a consultant for 3M, a technology company in the United States. Edwards has conducted past training workshops for IRI in the Sudan. Edwards was assisted at the workshop by Xav Hagen and Matthias Naab, Resident Country Directors for IRI-Liberia and IRI-Nigeria respectively. Africa Division Regional Director, Jeffrey Krilla was also present at the workshop in Monrovia to share some expertise.

The National Leadership Academy workshops are one of the primary components of IRI-Liberia’s current programming in the country. The workshops seek to build the foundation of the political parties and prepare them with the capacity to compete effectively in the country’s election in October 2005.

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