One year ago, when President Sirleaf addressed this august assembly. . . [she...

“One year ago, when President Sirleaf addressed this august assembly. . . [she] informed the Assembly that the Mano River Basin comprising Liberia, Guinea, Cote D'Ivoire, and Sierra Leone was at peace and was pursuing regional integration through initiatives that would facilitate connectivity in our power and transport systems, thereby enhancing cross-border trade in which our market women are mostly engaged. . . . One year later . . . [t]he ‘market woman' who traded goods and services across borders a year ago is now constrained to remain within the borders of her country and suffer the consequences of economic inactivity.”

“Cumulatively, women, constituting a majority of our health workforce and being the main care givers in our deeply traditional society, have been disproportionately affected.”

“An increasing number of pregnant women are dying in the process of bringing forth life. In short, our public health system, which totally collapsed during years of conflict and was being gradually rebuilt, has relapsed under the weight of the deadly virus.”