Mmonbeydo’s Money: Documentary // Debate (København)

Is it wrong to buy votes? A talk about corruption and women’s access to politics in Liberia.

Thursday the 7th we will screen a short documentary about a young woman from Liberia and her campaign for a seat in the parliament. The documentary was released two years ago, and this year we are lucky that the main character Mmonbeydo Harrell is in Denmark and she is giving a talk in MellemRummet!

Mmonbeydo’s biggest dream is to make life better for the people of her district, especially for the women and children. To do so she must be elected, which will not be easy. In the documentary, we follow Mmonbeydo to her district in the jungle where she visits small villages and meets the villagers. Here she is faced with a dilemma: In the district the political candidates hand out money to the residents and Mmonbeydo feels obliged to follow suit. She is a fighter and feminist, but can she change the system without being part of it herself? Join us in an interesting debate about how money affects elections and about women’s lack of access to political power in Liberia.

Free entry!
Cheap beer!
African feminism!
What is not to like?

About the speakers:
Mmonbeydo Harrell, Dirctor of the NGO ORWACH,
Signe Grandorf, journalist and director of the documentary and
Kari Øygard, anthropologist and co-director.

About Liberia:
Liberia is known for the bloody civil war during the years 1989-2003. The Ebola crisis in 2014-2015 has not made life easier for the people living in poverty in a country with a great deal of corruption and abuse of power. Women, in particular, are affected: Only a third of the women over the age of 15 can read and write and a third of all women are unemployed. Partner violence, violence against women and rape are widespread, and perpetrators are almost never punished. Nor is there gender equality in the political sphere as only 11 of the 103 members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are women.