Etweda Ambavi Gbenyon Cooper, known as Sugars, is a Liberian politician and peace activist. She has been described as "the doyenne" and "the godmother" of the Liberian women's movement. In 2010, she was elected mayor of Edina, Liberia. She then served as superintendent of

Grand Bassa County Grand Bassa is a county in the west-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has eight districts. Buchanan serves as the capital with the ...

from 2012 to 2015.

Early life and education

Etweda Cooper was born in Edina, into an elite family descended from freed slaves who left the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

for

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...

in the 1800s. She grew up speaking Bassa and Liberian English. Cooper is known across the country by her nickname, Sugars. She left Liberia as a young woman to attend university in Bern, Switzerland.

Activism

First Liberian Civil War

After returning to Liberia, Cooper became involved in the peace movement in 1994. As a co-founder and onetime chair of the Liberian Women’s Initiative, she served as a key figure in women's peace activism during the

first Liberian civil war The First Liberian Civil War lasted from 1989 to 1997. President Samuel Doe had established a regime in 1980 but totalitarianism and corruption led to unpopularity and the withdrawal of support from the United States by the late 1980s. The Na ...

. In 1998, Cooper was briefly arrested by the Liberia National Police after denouncing the murder of a woman at the hands of security forces.

Second Liberian Civil War and aftermath

As a part of Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace in the early 2000s, she played a major role in the nonviolent resistance campaign that led to the end of Liberia's second civil war. Cooper has also been involved in the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), part of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding. After the second civil war ended, she helped organize women in favor of

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Sirleaf was born in Monr ...

's 2005 presidential campaign, in which Sirleaf was elected the first female president of an African country. Cooper appears in the documentary '' Pray the Devil Back to Hell'' about women's role in the Liberian peace process. In 2006, she became the first-ever recipient of the

1325 Year 1325 ( MCCCXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 7 – Afonso IV becomes King of Portugal. * February – Muhammad bin ...

Award from the Dutch government.

Political career

In April 2010, Cooper was elected mayor of her hometown,

Edina EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group. Services EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use fo ...

, which she aimed to turn into an eco-friendly, safe town that attracts tourists. In 2012, she was appointed superintendent of

by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and confirmed by the

Liberian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia, and together with the House of Representatives comprises the Legislature of Liberia. Each of the fifteen counties are equally represented by two senators, elected to se ...

. On her appointment, she became mayor emeritus of Edina. Her time in office included overseeing the county's response to the Western African Ebola virus epidemic. Later in her term, Cooper became chairperson of Liberia's Superintendent Council. She resigned as the county's superintendent in 2015, citing a "personal reason." In 2017, she ran to represent Grand Bassa in the

Liberian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia, and together with the Senate comprises the Legislature of Liberia. The number of seats is fixed by law at 73, with each county being apportioned ...

, as a member of the

True Whig Party The True Whig Party (TWP), also known as the Liberian Whig Party (LWP), is the oldest political party in Liberia and one of the oldest parties in Africa. Founded in 1869 by primarily darker-skinned Americo-Liberians in rural areas, its historic ...

, but she was not elected.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Etweda Living people 21st-century Liberian women politicians Liberian women activists Liberian women's rights activists Liberian anti-war activists African women in war Liberian pacifists Women's rights in Africa Year of birth missing (living people) People from Grand Bassa County 21st-century Liberian politicians