Johnson Sirleaf: Let's go All In to end violence against women

Former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was Africa’s first elected woman head of state. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is a founding member of All In: Global Leaders for Ending Gender-Based Violence, a new high-level initiative to accelerate action to end gender-based violence worldwide.

When I look back on my years growing up in Liberia, I often think about the girls I knew whose dreams ended far too early. Some were pulled out of school to help raise siblings. Others were pushed into early marriages. 

Many lived with violence they could not name - and certainly could not report. They were bright, capable girls, but the world never met them. Their talents were stifled before they had the chance to bloom.

Decades later, after serving as president, travelling the world, and meeting women from every kind of background, I can tell you this: their stories are not unique to Liberia. They are global.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is not only a personal tragedy. It is a major obstacle to girls’ education, women’s financial independence, and their rightful place in public life. 

When a girl drops out of school because she is unsafe on the walk there, or because she becomes pregnant after rape, her entire trajectory changes. 

When a woman misses work due to abuse at home, she loses income, confidence, and opportunities. When women are threatened, harassed, or attacked for stepping into public leadership, we all lose the benefit of their vision.

I witnessed this firsthand during Liberia’s civil wars. Sexual violence was used as a weapon - not only to harm women, but to destroy families and communities. 

The consequences lasted long after the guns went silent. Women who had endured unimaginable violence struggled to rebuild their lives. Many could not return to school or employment. And when half of a nation’s population is held back, the nation cannot move forward.

This is why, at this moment of rising conflict, democratic backsliding, and widening economic inequality, I am joining with global leaders to launch All In: Global Leaders for Ending Gender-Based Violence. 

It has been established by the Ford Foundation, the U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund and the Equality Institute which is leading the initiative.

Our goal is simple: to drive political commitment and financing to prevent GBV - because we know it is preventable. The evidence is crystal clear. 

In multiple countries, well-designed interventions have cut violence by half within a few years. Programmes that keep girls in school, support families economically, and shift harmful norms are not just hopeful ideas - they work.

What we have lacked is political will at the scale the crisis demands.

I am honoured to join distinguished leaders such as #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, women’s and children’s advocate Graça Machel, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege. Each of them brings courage and deep expertise - from leading global survivor movements to transforming laws to caring for survivors of wartime rape. Together, we want to speak in one voice: this violence is solvable, and we must act with urgency.

So why launch All In now? Because we are at a crossroads. Backlash against women’s rights is rising. Social media is amplifying misogyny at a scale we have never seen before. Climate change and conflict are creating new risks for women and girls. 

And yet this is also a moment of unprecedented possibility. We have more data, stronger movements, and clearer evidence than ever before. What we need now is collective action.

I believe deeply that a world free from violence is possible. But it will not happen by accident. It will happen because leaders, institutions, communities - and ordinary citizens - choose to make it happen.

So here is my call to you: go all in. If you are a policymaker, integrate GBV prevention into education, health, infrastructure, justice, climate resilience, and economic systems. If you are an educator, teach equality and respect. 

If you are an employer, create safe workplaces. If you’re a tech company, ensure the safety of all users with a zero-harm commitment. If you are a student or young leader, challenge harmful norms wherever you see them. And if you are a citizen of the world, refuse silence, because there is no neutral ground.

Every girl deserves safety. Every woman deserves dignity. And every society deserves the peace and prosperity that come when all its people can thrive.
Now is the time to act - together.