His Excellency Dr. George Manneh Weah has, by Proclamation, declared Thursday, June 16, 2022 as “Day of the African Child”, to be observed throughout the Republic as a working holiday.
According to a Foreign Ministry release, the core significance of the observance of the Day of the African Child is firstly in memory of hundreds of black school children who participated in the Soweto uprising in 1976. On that day, history recorded the brutal massacre in Soweto, South Africa, of protesting black school students against Apartheid, while advocating for equal rights and opportunities.
The Government of Liberia (GOL) will join the African Union (AU) and other international partners to observe the day with children across the African Continent under the global theme, “Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children: Progress on Policy & Practice since 2013”, and the National theme, “Creating a Space for Children to Speak-Up Against Harmful Practices Affecting Their Well-Being”.
An assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU), in keeping with resolution CM/RES.1290 XL commemorates annually on June 16 of each year as “Day of the African Child” to focus awareness of the problems and design remedies to adequately address the effects on the young African population, the proclamation explains.
“In adherence to the Convention of the Right of the Child, the Government of the Republic of Liberia ratified the convention by an act of the Legislature in 1992, which guarantees the full protection of children from all forms of depravation and abuse,” the Proclamation reads.
The Proclamation further reveals that on Thursday, June 16, 2022, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in collaboration with her international partners, will hold an official indoor program at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, Montserrado County, commencing at 10:00 o’clock ante meridian, withJoel UK Gray Jr., Speaker, erstwhile Children’s Parliament, now Liberia National Children’s Representative Forum, providing special message.
The Proclamation issued by the President calls upon all citizens and foreign residents, national and international youth organizations and all government agencies concerned to join the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to execute appropriate programs befitting the observance of the day, while adhering to prescribed COVID-19 health protocol.