Women in Cross Border Trade LIBERIA - UN Women

Resolution Adopted by the newly‐established Women in Cross
Border Trade Association of Liberia
We, the Women in Cross Border Trade Association of Liberia:
Urge the Government of Liberia and the security agencies to take stronger actions to
stop the corrupt practices of customs, immigration and other border officers and to
put an end to the sexual violence and exploitation at our borders;
Call on the Mano River Union, ECOWAS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make sure
that the rights of Liberian women are protected in other West African countries;
Further call on the Mano River Union, ECOWAS and Liberian Customs to simplify their
policies and to work with women involved in informal trading of goods, recognizing
that we do not always receive official receipts for our goods, so that we, the
informal traders, can also benefit from duty‐free trading within the region;
Stress the urgent need for more storage facilities to ease the safety hazards and
burdens of cross border trading;
Urge the banks and financial institutions to consider the needs and constraints of cross
border traders and to develop appropriate loan and banking products with more
time to pay loans at lower interest rates;
Call on women involved in cross border trade to respect the laws, always carry their
correct documents, refuse to pay bribes, and report corrupt practices;
And advocate for the expansion of the Association of Women in Cross Border Trade in
order to serve as a representative body that will inform women traders of their
rights and work to protect them.
Signed by the founding seventy members of the Women in Cross Border Trade Association of Liberia and
its elected leadership on the 29 th of May, 2010.