1. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia OVERVIEW OF RIGHTS AND RICE FOUNDATION

2. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Rights and Rice Foundation (RRF) is a non - governmental organization registered in Liberia with the overall aim of working for social justice and community empowerment. Established in 2007, the organization seeks to integrate rights issues in development work.

3. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Organizational Structure Board of Directors (7 members) Management Team Program / Project Unit Finance Unit Administration / Logistic Unit Field Offices TAG – Technical Advisory Group / Team Annual General Retreat

4. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Offices: Headquarters – Field Offices Staffing:

5. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia. The Vision of RRF is, “An equitable society characterized by respect for the rule of law and equal opportunities for all.” The Mission Statement is: “To promote social, economic and political rights through empowering people who suffer injustice and lack equal opportunities.”

6. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia CONCERNS AND ISSUES:  Liberia’s young democracy is still too young and needs to improve; people’s trust in governance should replace their mistrust; trust in electoral process; holding elected officials accountable; a system that delivers basic needs of people;  Current constitution of Liberia still gives more power to the Government than to the people.  Economy is still import – export oriented; dominated by foreign investors;  Natural resource management has to be more transparent, equitable and assure equitable benefits to the citizens;  Lack of equal opportunities for marginalized sections of the population  Peace is still fragile; all the essential elements that led to Liberia’s civil conflict are still prevalent

7. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Our strategy is based on community empowerment and helping people discover their human talents and potentials, harness their natural resources and fully participate in making decisions and taking positive actions that will transform their lives, their communities and the country.

8. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Our strategy is based community empowerment and helping people discover their human talents and potentials, harness their natural resources and fully participate in making decisions and taking positive actions that will transform their lives, their communities and the country. We work at two levels: (a) Local levels (county, district, communities) empowering, educating and organizing people to transform their lives; (b) National levels – through networks and coalitions, we seek to articulate the issues from local people to influence policy enforcement and policy making.

9. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Programmatic focus areas of interventions for RRF are: (a)Governance – political and economic governance (b)Conflict Mediation and Peace Building - Building local capacities and working through the national Early Warning system (c)Community Empowerment – literacy, numeracy, life skills; organizational development for CBOs & FBOs; Business development capacity building for farming groups.

10. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Political Governance:- -Human rights education, promotion; -Civic and Voters’ Education -Gender Equity and Equality and Women in Governance -Decentralization

11. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Economic Governance -Natural Resource Governance i. Primary Target: Affected communities of concessions and companies; ii. Sub sectors: Forestry (logging); Mining (artisanal & industrial); agriculture (cocoa and coffee); Land; iii. Stakeholders: Concessionaires, Host / Affected communities; Local Governments; Government Line Ministries; Policy Makers; national and international CSOs; Funding partners / donors. Statement: Until people in the immediate environment where resources are being extracted can have tangible evidence of improvement in their livelihood, there is no certainty that natural resources can benefit the country.

12. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Economic Governance Key Objectives: -Access to information, education of especially residents on their fair share of benefits from the investment (what is in it for us?); -Strengthening organizations of affected communities to plan, properly manage benefits and advocate for their benefits; -Ensuring that marginalized people are involved in decision making on natural resources -Enforcing policies and advocate for necessary policies to strengthen the sector.

13. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Community Empowerment – this is the concept of working with people to do for themselves. -Literacy, numeracy and life skills. Literacy for what? For empowerment; for enabling people to participate fully. -Organization strengthening of farmers and community based organizations. The more people are organized the more they can advocate for their rights. -Business development / Farming as a business. Moving from subsistence to better livelihood; farming can be a profession, like any other profession.

14. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Community Empowerment Food Security – What are the challenges for food security in Liberia today and how and in what area can RRF contribute? -Land owenership by small farmers will minimize shifting cultivation, give way to improved farming techniques, and minize deforestration. -Training farmers to better organize themselves and manage their organization is one way we like to contribute. -What are other ways? What can we do that everyone is not doing? What will be our niche? -

15. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia Networking and Collaboration -Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) -Concession Working Group (CWG) -Early Warning and Response Working Group -National Adult Education Forum of Liberia -LEITI MSG -Independent Committee of Experts to Vet Commissioners of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights -General Assembly of DEN - L

16. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia MEET OUR DONORS / FINANCING PARTNERS: German International Cooperation (GIZ) WELT HUNGER HILFE (WHH) Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) Trust Africa Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Purdue University Peace Project UN Women

17. RRF Staff Orientation – March 20, 2015, Monrovia 2014 – 2015 Program Portfolio (turn to other page)