Her team of youth ambassadors, which includes young women and men, have had to change their way of working during the coronavirus pandemic and are now reaching out directly to their community to prevent an escalation of gender-based violence during the lockdown.

Plan International’s Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) project in Lofa County establishes safe spaces for young people to increase their knowledge and understanding about girls’ issues in Liberia and other parts of the world.

The group holds meetings and runs awareness raising activities to encourage community members, religious leaders and traditional leaders from ten communities in Lofa county to take a stand against gender-based violence.

Mawatta’s team has got the support of their town’s traditional leaders and chief in their advocacy work against the exploitation and abuse of girls and young women during the COVID-19 crisis.

Gender-based violence has been on the rise in Liberia since the lockdown measures and other restrictions were imposed to prevent the spread of the virus so the GAA project team are also building the capacity of the young change ambassadors and community leaders about how to prevent and report cases of violence other abuses against girls and women during the crisis.