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With just a day to go, the Antoinette Tubman
Stadium will be a scene of spectacular
youthful Sporting activities in celebration
of this year’s Day of the African Child.
As part of the activity four U-13 youth
soccer teams representing four clusters
communities in Montserrado country, Central
Monrovia, Bushrod Island, Sinkor and
Gradnersville will be featured, along with
four youth kickball teams from four Schools
participating in the one day festival.
They include Bethel Future (Sinkor), Add
Mill (Gradnersville, St. Simon Baptist
(Central Monrovia) and Tomorrow Children
International (Bushrod Island).
The Participating teams will compete in
both football and kickball in observance of
the UNICEF’s Day of the Africa Child.
Trophies will be presented to the winning
teams on that same day.
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Minister
Vabah Gayflor |
This year’s DAC is being observed under the
global theme: “African Orphans: Our
Collective Responsibility” and a national
theme; “Our Children: Our Responsibility”.
The themes provide excellent opportunities
both for social mobilization of communities
as well as advocacy on child protection,
HIV/AIDS and partnership for child rights
promotion.
The day will also be used to draw the
attention of the livelihood of African
children today.
At a joint news conference yesterday
Gender and Development Minister Varban
Gayflor and UNICEF Representative to Liberia
Angela Kearney urged Liberians to use this
year’s celebration to reflect on the
difficulties facing Liberian children and
begin to design action that will revive
their hope.
Minster Gayflor said it was important that
special attention is given to the day,
especially at the time our youths are faced
with difficult situations in society.
“We want to thank Firestone and
other partners for the generous support to
the DAC celebration but more importantly we
think it’s time that we all begin to take a
positive action to assure our children of
the joyful future they deserve”, Minister
Gayflor said.
Firestone Plantations Company is one of the
many partner’s organizations that are
sponsoring this year’s DAC celebration. She
donated US$5,000 for the program.
UNICEF Boss Angela Kearney says that
celebrating this year’s Day of the African
Child in Liberia is significant in
addressing the plight of the Children.
The UNICEF boss further noted that the
youth of this country was the future and
such serious important should attach to
them.
1) The presentation of a drafted National
plan of action for children by the Ministry
of Planning and Economic Affair, 2) The
decision to create women and children’s
affair coordination unit at the Ministry of
Planning and Economic Affair, which later
became the Ministry of Gender and
Development, 3) The decision to construct a
children’s hospital in Monrovia and 4) The
formation of a standing inter-ministerial
committee for the planning and
implementation of the DAC are in important
issued that needed to look at, if the live
of children are to be improve.
At the same time, on June 16, a national
DAC program will take place in Tubmanburg,
Bomi County, while the Children’s
Parliaments in Bomi, Lofa and Montserrado
Counties will convene special session on the
important of HIV/AIDS on Children and the
plight of Orphans in Liberia, reflecting on
the national theme for this year’s DAC
celebration.
The June 16th Day of the
African Child was set aside by Resolution
Number 1240 of the then Organization of the
African Unity (OAU) now called the (OAU) in
1990 to honor the memory and courage of the
hundreds of black school children who were
killed or injured on June 16, 1976 in a
street march in Soweto, South Africa to
protest the inferior quality of their
education and to demand their right to be
taught in their own language.
This year celebration is jointly hosted by
the UNICEF and the Gander Ministry in
collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and
Sports, Liberia Football Association (LFA)
and Liberia Kickball Federation (LKF).
The Day of the African Child was first
observed in Liberia on June 16, 1992. |
