The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2018

Today’s summary highlights news concerning President George Manneh Weah’s Pronouncement that his administration will surpass his predecessors in terms of national development; Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor’s donation of L$1m to the Liberia National Red Cross Society to empower vulnerable young women in Liberia as well as  the commencing of a two-day conference of Mano River Union in Monrovia.

Weah vows to surpass predecessors

Liberia’s President George Manneh Weah says those who doubt his ability to deliver on the job as head of state should brace themselves to see surprises and clap for him as the only president since 1847 to bring true development “I’m serious. I have a task. My task is to make sure that (I deliver).” he told a thanksgiving service held in his honor Saturday, 31 March at the Gbarnga Administrative Building in Bong County. Mr. Weah recalled the criticisms that greeted his ambition to lead the country when he emerged on the political scene. He said those who criticized him were just engaged in mere talk. “But I can tell you, I can tell you when you see what we are trying to do, you will sit and say since 1847 George Manneh Weah is the only president, So let us work together,” he added says the New Dawn newspaper.

VP Taylor Gives LNRCS L$1M for Girls Empowerment

According to the Daily Observer, Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor over the weekend donated L$1 million to the Liberia National Red Cross Society (LNRCS), to empower vulnerable young women and girls who have obtained technical and vocational skills to start their own businesses. VP Taylor said the gesture is intended to empower and enhance beneficiaries’ starter processes. VP Taylor made the donation when she served as guest speaker at the 7^th graduation ceremony of beneficiaries of the Women Training and Integration (WIN) project of the LNRCS, held at the Centennial Pavilion in Monrovia over the weekend.

MRU Countries Begin Water Resource Management Confab Today

The Daily Observer reports that a two-day conference on effective water resource management in the Mano River Union countries begins in Monrovia Monday, April 2, 2018, the MRU release has said. The four countries in West Africa (Côte d’ Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone) share the former Upper Guinea forest ecosystem and 10 trans-boundary river basins belonging to the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS). The four countries have received a Global Environmental Facility (GEF) identification #4953 grant of US$6,970,000.

Army flies attack Firestone

According to the News Dawn newspaper, an army of flies spreading diseases mainly through food have attacked Camp C of Firestone Liberia Rubber Plantations Company situated in Harbel Margibi County with camp residents sending SOS call on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promptly intervene and bring relief to the affected camps. Explaining the ordeal recently to reporters, a group of inhabitants from the area lamented that their children are almost eating flies daily due to the huge presence of the insects in their homes. A female inhabitant, who claims to be a fish seller, narrates that she is constrained to travel far in the bush in order to dry her fish to void swampy attack from the giant flies. According to her, before she serves her customers with fish product, she had to lock doors to her house to prevent the invading flies from entering her apartment. Some women, who are wives of contractors of the company note that because of the grave situation, the camp is now referred to as “flies’ camp” by surrounding inhabitants.

WFP ends national symposium in Ganta

A national symposium to showcase achievements, enhance information sharing, and critically review three years of implementation of the United Nations Joint Human Security Trust Fund Project has taken place in Ganta, Nimba County. Titled, “Human Security Initiative in the Most Neglected Communities Programme with the Integration of efforts by the UN Country Team in Liberia”, the project was implemented in Liberia (March 2015 – March 2018) with funding from the UN Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS). According to a release, the initiative is a joint effort led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with WFP, UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO, and UN Women, the Government of Liberia and local partners with support from the UN peace mission, UNMI. It is implemented in four Southeastern Counties: Nimba, Grand Gedeh, River Gee, & Maryland that have borders with Cote d’Ivoire. At the symposium, WFP Liberia praised the joint effort approach of the project as a laudable initiative that helped in fostering social cohesion, peace building, and strengthening agriculture-based livelihoods and food security, asserts the New Dawn newspaper.

Red Cross graduates 198 women

The Liberia National Red Cross (LNRCS) has graduated 198 women, mostly from the slum community of West Point under a program called Women Training and Integration (WIN) Project. The program, according to Red Cross has been helping mainly single mothers since 2009, with more than 1,202 beneficiaries from six slum communities in Montserrado County having graduated since the program was borne. The latest WIN beneficiaries were trained in different areas including food nutrition, catering, tailoring and cosmetology, among others. In a keynote address at the graduation ceremony on Friday, 30 March at the Centennial Pavilion on Ashmum Street, Vice President Jewel Howard - Taylor observed that sadly, the families of today’s Liberia are made up of mostly single family heads of households which are females which may not have many role models. But she told the graduates that every opportunity given to “each of us” is just [an] opportunity, saying what you do with it, how you utilize it for your own benefit will be your story and the story you will tell your children. She admonished the graduates to exhibit good manners while running their businesses or working for others in restaurants or beauty saloon as a way of attracting customers and maintaining them, pens the New Dawn newspaper.

Judicial Reports Completes Training In Corruption Reporting

According United States Agency for International Development advisor for legal professional development and anti-corruption program says large government is size is one of the root causes of corruption. Scott Collins was speaking when USAID conducted training on reporting anti-corruption for over 30 judicial reporters from various media institutions in the country. The training, held on March 31 in Mamba Point, is the first of the quarterly workshop that the USAID has promised to offer judicial reporters. LPAC’s Chief of Party in Liberia, Gerald Meyerman, during the opening ceremony of the training, emphasized that corruption was a bad act that retards the development of any nation and there was a need to discourage it for the betterment of any country and its people, reports the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

LNCRS to Help Rural Communities Get Safe Drinking Water

Acute shortage of safe drinking water and poor sanitary conditions still remain a challenged in most rural communities across Liberia. In low Margibi County, a county situated near the Capital Monrovia, residents continue to suffer from waterborne and other diseases, which sometimes lead to death due to lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation condition.  In a conversation with FrontPage Africa Thursday, residents of Nagbos and Kpuzu Towns say they lost six adults and over 20 children in 2017.  James Gboto, Nagbos town chief, told FrontPage Africa that residents of his town have been fetching water from uncovered wells and the bush for sanitation.  The town, Gboto said, has over 250 dwellers and is among several other towns in the area that lack access to basic water and sanitation facilities, according to the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Adolescent School Girls Drilled in Science Technology, Innovation

Comparable to its West African counterparts, Liberia educational system lurks behind specifically in the Science, Technology Engineer, and Mathematics (STEM), thus there’s the need to raise the required awareness to increase adolescent student’s interests. And so the Liberians Encouraging Students in Science and Technology (LESSAT), a non for profit group has endeavored to ensure that a huge chunk of Liberian adolescent school girls choose science and technology as a career path. On Saturday, March 31, 2018, the group organized a daylong conference for young school girls at the ‘I Campus’ in Monrovia. In order to achieve its mandate, Executive Director Doris Myers said the conference was to inspire young ladies to take up careers in the discipline of science, technology and innovation by eliminating the gender gap in education and skill-development and helping them discover the opportunities, writes the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

 ‘Gov’t Promises Food Security in 4 Years’ – AfricaRice describes proposition as wonderful

The newly appointed Minister of Agriculture has pledged to make Liberia for self-sufficient in the first four years of his reign, though he did not announce how much money the government is allocating to the agriculture sector. It can however be noted that agriculture has been severely underfunded with not more than  6 percent allocated to agriculture over the 12 years of President Sirleaf’s tenure in office. But the new appointed Minister of Agriculture has, nevertheless, pledged to make Liberia food self-sufficient in the first four years of his reign. The disclosure was made by Agriculture Minister Dr. Mogana Flomo, who said the government already has a plan to make this dream a reality, reports the Daily Observer.

LEC To Launch Flat Rate Project In Old Matadi

The Liberia Electricity Cooperation (LEC) had selected the Old Matadi Community to pilot a new project, to connect customers to the national electricity grid on a monthly flat rate. The initial pilot phase of the project will target about 25 homes; with the aim of increasing access to electricity and at the same time help reduce power theft. The project reinforces the LEC’s commitment to support the government’s pro-poor agenda, to improve the livelihood of the people. After the pilot phase, the project would be extended to several other communities across the network area. Speaking Matadi on Thursday, LEC’s Network superior Patrick Smith, assured residents of the corporation’s commitment to provide affordable and reliable electricity in all parts of the country, writes the Daily Observer.