CARE is craving to return to Liberia to contribute to the ongoing efforts of development and reform. Two executives of the organization, CARE-USA Director, Dr. Helene Gayle and CARE-Netherlands Director, Guss Eskens held a meeting with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at the Foreign Ministry.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008 meeting between PresidentJohnson- Sirleaf and the visiting CARE Executives was termed productive with the two parties expressing interest in working with one another.

The meeting gave CARE officials the chance to inform the Liberian leader of their desire to return to Liberia to do business.

CARE is one of many international humanitarian institutions that folded up during the advent of conflict even before the 1989 so-called “Popular People’s Uprising launched by Charles Taylor who later become president in 1997.

CARE has been out of Liberia for about 25 years having packed off in 1983, two years into the miserable rule of slain President Samuel Kanyon Doe.

At yesterday meeting, President Sirleaf welcomed CARE Nederland National Director Mr. Guus Eskens and CARE USA Chief Executive Director, Dr. Helene Gayle who announced the return of the humanitarian organization following a 25-year absence.

The Liberian leader h hailed the announcement of CARE’s return to Liberia and discussed possible partnerships in a wide range of areas.

“We are coming back with total enthusiasm,” said Dr. Gayle.  “This is an important time to make critical contributions to the development of Liberia under the new democratic leadership. 

" We'ave tremendous experience in many of the areas of need in Liberia, including assistance in agriculture, health and education. And of course, our focus is empowering women and girls. Experience has confirmed this is the best way to leverage positive change in communities.”

CARE-USA boss thanked President Johnson-Sirleaf and stated that: “Liberia is moving away from humanitarian to developmental assistance.” 

They're the leading humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting poverty and social injustice that works in about 70 countries worldwide. The group places special emphasis on investing in women and girls because experience shows that their empowerment benefits whole communities.

CARE undertook programs in Liberia from 1961 through 1983, providing school lunches, child nutrition, classroom supply kits, road construction, water systems, health education and others.

Following the meeting with President Johnson-Sirleaf, the team held a press conference to further elucidate their intention. “Well, it was a chance to talk to the President about CARE’s intention to return to Liberia. I had a discussion with her in Washington D.C..

"So it was an opportunity with my colleague from CARE Netherlands to talk to about our intention and work we had done in the meantime to do assessment and to do a little more in-depth of what we might be able to do here,” Dr. Gayle stated when she was asked to talk about the meeting with the Liberian leader.

According to her, they are coming to focus on areas where the government and others say critical to the development of Liberia.

She said they have not chosen a specific area to do business, but are looking at background paper, like poverty reduction strategy (PRS) among others. She also noted that there is a window of opportunity her organization wants to take advantage of.

Rape Has Two-fold Consequences

UN Deputy Envoy, Ms. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, has highlighted the serious and harmful consequences of rape in Liberia as she launched a regional Anti-Rape Campaign in southeastern Grand Gedeh County, close to Liberia’s border with Cote d’Iviore.

“This crime has serious social and economic consequences for the society,” the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Rule of Law in Liberia told about a thousand people attending the launch. 

“Since 2006 the statistics for rape have not declined in Liberia. Most victims are between 10 to 14 years of age, and now even those between one to five years of age are falling prey to rape,” Ms. Mensa-Bonsu pointed out.

	• Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu

Liberia’s Solicitor-General, Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe, said the government was very serious about stamping out rape in all spheres of Liberian society.

“We've cases of judges, teachers and pastors being sent to jail in different counties of the country,” he said. Cllr. Gongloe further encouraged people to report all cases of sexual violence to the police.

“Rape is a very old problem that troubles the country,” he said, citing one of the earliest recorded rape cases involving a 14-year-old victim in 1898.

In urging Liberians to take responsibility in rooting out rape, the Chairman of the Community Policing Forum, Nyenati Kafe, appealed to the community to work with the police.

“If there is no law and order, it will be difficult for development to take place, and for job opportunities to emerge,” he added. Mr. Kafe urged the community to take a proactive approach in reporting rape.

The Anti-Rape campaign launch in Zwedru involved the screening of anti-rape messages, sporting events, dramas by Zwedru Children’s Parliament, performances by Liberian Artistes Against Rape, and a special appearance by the winner of the ‘Star is Born’ contest, Moses Swaray.  Popular UNMIL comedian, Giorgio Boutini, also thrilled the audience in Zwedru with anti-rape messages.

Attending the launch were acting Grand Gedeh County Superintendent Tarley Dweh, a representative of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Norris Tweh, local officials, religious and traditional leaders, students, youth and women groups, and others.

The national Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Taskforce, that includes government, United Nations and other partners, launched the national anti-rape campaign a fortnight ago in a fresh effort to deal with high incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, especially rape. 

From the regional launch in Harper, Maryland County, the county-level campaign launches will move on from Grand Gedeh to Sinoe and to all the other Counties of Liberia.