As Liberia recovers from a decade of civil war, the country's top UN official is not only pushing for an advancement in women's rights, but also saying that women's empowerment is critical to improving peace and development:

Addressing participants at the start of a five-day national women's conference in the capital, Monrovia, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Liberia, Ellen Margrethe Løj, yesterday highlighted the need to take the message of women's empowerment and the advancement of human rights to the community level.

'When discussing these issues, ensure that they are not only discussed with intellectual women in Monrovia; make sure that all women of Liberia are involved in these efforts,' she told the gathering, which included UN and Government officials, diplomats, local women leaders, female traditional and religious leaders and members of civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Løj also addressed women's participation in agriculture in reference to the rise in food prices, as well as the prevalence of rape in Liberia, which is currently the single most frequently committed serious crime in the nation.