26/10/2026
WONGOSOL Executive Director Esther S. Davis Yango Joins Regional Dialogue on Security Sector Reform, Democratic Governance and Human Security in Dakar
| October 25, 2026
The Executive Director of the Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL), Esther S. Davis Yango, is participating in a three-day regional multi-stakeholder dialogue on Security Sector Reform, Democratic Governance of the Security Sector, Institutional Stability and Human Security in the Digital Age, taking place in Dakar, Senegal, from October 26–28, 2026.
The dialogue, organized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission and the German development agency GIZ through the EU Support to ECOWAS for Peace, Security and Governance (EPSG) project, brings together approximately 80 participants from 12 ECOWAS Member States.
The Gorée Institute is facilitating the dialogue, which seeks to strengthen regional cooperation, promote accountable security institutions, and develop practical approaches to emerging security and governance challenges.
Four representatives from Liberia are participating in the regional dialogue, contributing Liberian experiences and perspectives to discussions on democratic governance, institutional accountability, human security, and inclusive peacebuilding.
STRENGTHENING WOMEN’S ROLE IN PEACE AND SECURITY
For Madam Yango, participation in the dialogue provides an important opportunity to advance the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and reinforce the principle that security must be understood not only in terms of territorial protection or the strength of security institutions, but also through the safety, dignity, rights, and lived experiences of women, girls, young people, and vulnerable communities.
As the head of WONGOSOL, a national network representing more than 250 women-led and women-focused organizations across Liberia’s 15 counties, Madam Yango works to strengthen women’s leadership, promote gender equality, advance women’s rights, and ensure that women’s voices inform decisions affecting peace, security, governance, and transitional justice.
Her participation comes at a critical time for West Africa, as countries across the region confront institutional instability, democratic governance challenges, persistent insecurity, and emerging digital threats. The dialogue recognizes that these challenges require accountable institutions, effective civilian oversight, respect for human rights, and meaningful participation by women and young people.
BRINGING LIBERIA’S WOMEN’S PEACEBUILDING EXPERIENCES TO THE REGIONAL TABLE
During the dialogue, Madam Yango will contribute perspectives informed by Liberia’s experience of conflict, post-conflict recovery, women’s peacebuilding leadership, and ongoing efforts to advance transitional justice and inclusive governance.
She will emphasize the
importance of integrating women’s perspectives into security sector reform, strengthening civilian oversight and accountability, and ensuring that national and regional security policies respond to the distinct security concerns of women and girls.
Drawing on WONGOSOL’s engagement with women peacebuilders and community-based structures, she will also highlight the value of grassroots peacebuilding mechanisms, including Women Peace Huts, community-based early warning systems, and women’s networks that help identify tensions, prevent violence, and promote peaceful conflict resolution.
Madam Yango will further underscore the importance of connecting security sector reform with Liberia’s transitional justice process. She will advocate for meaningful participation by women, victims, survivors, and affected communities in decisions concerning accountability, reparations, institutional reform, and guarantees of non-recurrence.
She will also bring attention to the gender dimensions of emerging digital security threats, including disinformation, online harassment, digital surveillance, and other practices that can undermine women’s participation in public life, threaten human rights defenders, and restrict democratic engagement.
WHAT HER PARTICIPATION MEANS FOR LIBERIA AND WONGOSOL
Madam Yango’s participation is expected to strengthen WONGOSOL’s engagement with regional policy discussions and create opportunities to translate lessons from the dialogue into national advocacy, policy engagement, and programming. Following the dialogue, she intends to draw on the exchanges and emerging recommendations to:
Advance gender-responsive security governance: Strengthen advocacy for women’s meaningful participation in security sector reform, security oversight, peacebuilding, and institutional decision-making.
Strengthen the Women, Peace and Security agenda: Support efforts to connect regional commitments with Liberia’s WPS priorities, including women’s participation, conflict prevention, protection from violence, and meaningful involvement in peace and security decision-making.
Promote community-based conflict prevention: Share relevant lessons with women’s organizations, Women Peace Hut structures, and other community peacebuilding actors to strengthen early warning, violence prevention, and locally led responses to insecurity.
Connect security reform with transitional justice: Advocate for inclusive, survivor-centered, and gender-responsive approaches to accountability, reparations, institutional reform, and reconciliation in Liberia.
Strengthen civil society engagement and accountability: Encourage constructive collaboration among government institutions, security actors, oversight bodies, and civil society organizations to promote transparency, respect for human rights, and accountable security institutions.
Address emerging digital threats: Promote approaches that protect women’s rights, privacy, safety, and participation in the digital space while ensuring that security-related technologies are subject to appropriate legal safeguards and democratic oversight.
She will also seek to share relevant knowledge and recommendations with WONGOSOL’s member organizations and national stakeholders, helping to ensure that regional dialogue contributes to practical action at the national and community levels.
SECURITY MUST BE MEASURED BY THE SAFETY AND DIGNITY OF PEOPLE
“Security sector reform must go beyond strengthening institutions and providing security services. It must also address whether women, girls, young people, and communities feel safe, whether their rights are protected, and whether they have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their lives. Liberia’s experience demonstrates the importance of community participation, women’s leadership, accountability, and inclusive approaches to building sustainable peace.
“I look forward to contributing the experiences of Liberian women peacebuilders, particularly the role of Women Peace Huts and grassroots women’s networks in preventing conflict and strengthening community resilience. I will also emphasize the importance of linking security sector reform with transitional justice, so that the concerns of victims and survivors are reflected in institutional reform and national peacebuilding efforts.
The dialogue is expected to produce practical recommendations on democratic governance of the security sector, identify emerging security risks, and launch a regional knowledge platform to support continued learning and cooperation among ECOWAS Member States.
For WONGOSOL, the engagement reinforces the organization’s commitment to ensuring that women are not merely beneficiaries of peace and security initiatives, but active participants in shaping the policies, institutions, and processes that determine their safety, rights, and future.
ABOUT WONGOSOL
The Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL) is a national network of more than 250 women-led and women-focused organizations operating across Liberia’s 15 counties. The organization works to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, promote women’s leadership and participation in governance, prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, and strengthen women’s contributions to peacebuilding, human rights, and sustainable development.
