The President of the Republic of Liberia, His Excellency George Manneh Weah, has by proclamation declared Saturday, June 16, 2018 as “Day of The African Child” to be observed throughout the Republic as a Working Holiday.

Liberia will join other countries across the African continent to celebrate the Day under the Global theme: “Leave No Child Behind for Africa’s Development” and the national theme: “Despite Disabilities; Every Child has Inclusive Rights to Liberia’s Development.”

The Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU), adopted Resolution No. 1240 in 1990, declaring June 16 of each year as “Day of the African Child” to focus awareness of the problems and address their effects on the young African population.

According to the Proclamation, the significance of the observance of the Day of the African Child is in memory of hundreds of school children who were brutally massacred in Soweto, South Africa, by the Apartheid Regime in June 1976, while advocating for equal rights and opportunities. “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.

President George Manneh Weah has meanwhile called 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.