ZWEDRU, Grand Gedeh County, August 14, 2026 — The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) has intensified efforts to recruit more women into its ranks, taking its nationwide recruitment campaign to Grand Gedeh County as part of efforts to increase female representation in the military.
An AFL delegation visiting Zwedru this week encouraged students and other young Liberians, particularly women, to consider careers in the military as the force seeks to expand its personnel.
The delegation described the AFL as a professional institution that provides opportunities for personal and career development while emphasizing professionalism, discipline, dignity, commitment, leadership and willingness to serve.
Women currently account for 7.5 percent of AFL personnel, according to a Ministry of National Defense project document. The document puts female representation among officers at 11.5 percent, compared with 7.1 percent among enlisted personnel.
The figures represent an increase from 2017, when the Gender and Security Sector National Taskforce reported that women constituted only 3 percent of the AFL, then the lowest level of female representation among Liberia’s security institutions.
The Ministry of National Defense and the AFL launched a project on February 9 in partnership with UN Women, with funding from the Elsie Initiative Fund, aimed at increasing the number of women serving in the military.
The initiative also seeks to prepare more Liberian women for deployment to United Nations peacekeeping missions, including in leadership and command positions.
As part of the project, recruitment activities are being accompanied by a nationwide public awareness campaign intended to challenge perceptions that military service is primarily a profession for men.
The campaign is expected to cover all 15 counties, divided into four regions, through community engagements, outreach to schools and universities, media activities and stakeholder dialogues.
Families, educators, local authorities, religious leaders and women’s organizations are among the groups being targeted as authorities seek to address social and cultural barriers that may discourage women from joining the military.
The AFL previously assessed some of those barriers in September 2022 using a methodology developed by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance. The assessment examined the military’s capacity to deploy women to peacekeeping operations and ensure their meaningful participation while serving on missions.
The Grand Gedeh outreach forms part of the broader effort to attract more qualified women into the AFL and strengthen their participation across the force.
