𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐜𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐥… ~~𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 

By Charles B. Yates 

Meet Vivian Innis McGill a humanitarian, mother , professional and caregiver. Vivian has contributed to progress towards women’s peace and security, gender equality and women’s empowerment in Liberia. She managed the Girls Ebola Recovery Livelihood (GERLS) Project – a Labor market support project for young adolescent girls that focused on vulnerable adolescent girls who were already into business but lost their businesses and those who lost someone due to the EVD scourge.   

She has worked producing results and impact for gender equality, through strengthening the country’s response to SGBV, resulting in upward trends in the number of cases handled and convictions secured.   Also, Vivian has assisted in bringing together women’s human rights defenders, law enforcement, prosecutors, GBV and child protection officials to ensure speedy responses to SGBV during an uptick in violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.   Through strengthening of the response to SGBV, and the upward trends in the number of cases handled and convictions secured throughout the country, as well as providing free legal aid services to over 700 women and girls.  In response to an increase in Sexual Gender Based Violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked with the One UN in Liberia, national and international partners who brought together women’s human rights defenders, law enforcement, prosecutors, GBV and child protection officials to ensure speedy responses to SGBV and all forms of Violence in Liberia at a two days national conference that led to the development of “Government of Liberia & Partners’ Roadmap on Ending SGBV (2020-2022)”.   

Vivian has been influential in promoting gender equality in the security sector, including by developing capacities and developing gender responsive policies across ministries and security institutions to ensure representation of women in the security and justice sectors. As well as contributing writer to the Post-War Security Sector Reform in Liberia book “Gender and Security Sector Reform: The Challenge of Female Representation”. She holds a graduate degree in Sustainable International Development from your (Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, USA) and a BBA in Management from the United Methodist University, Liberia, and several professional certificates. She is currently a second student at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law.