The Elections and Democracy Activity (EDA) in Liberia is a five-year USAID-funded project that aims to help Liberia overcome threats to its democracy and foster inclusive, sustainable democratic development. IREX is working as a sub-grantee to Democracy International to support youth political participation and strengthen youth engagement in the democratic process, as well as to encourage more responsible and inclusive media coverage of elections. 

• Through the design and roll-out of a Liberian Foundational Political Training, IREX expects to build the skills and confidence of approximately 1,000 youth from target counties; providing more equitable access to leadership opportunities for marginalized groups.   

• To ensure that project activities are driven by youth voices, IREX will establish a Youth Advisory Committee composed of diverse youth-serving organizations in Liberia to advise the program on activity design, implementation, and adaptive management.  

• From 2010-2015, IREX’s Civil Society and Media Leadership (CSML) program in Liberia provided resources to local civil society organizations and independent media to engage the population in inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable development. The EDA project builds off of this established and trusted network of partners.  

• Increase youth participation in Liberia’s democratic political process. 

• Strengthen youth networks and skills to encourage young Liberians to actively engage with their communities. 

• Improve coverage of female candidates for political office. 

Dara Lipton (Project Director), dlipton@irex.org