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Liberia Celebrates ECOWAS Human Rights Day Liberia Celebrated Liberia Celebrates ECOWAS Human Rights Day Liberia celebrated ECOWAS Human Rights Day on Wednesday January 16, 2019 with pump and pageantry despite limited time for adequate preparation. The Independent National Commission on Human Rights served as lead national institution supported by ECOWAS Office in Liberia. The Day was celebrated under the International theme “Promoting Affirmative Action on the Right of the Girl Child to Education” and the National theme “Take Action to Protect Our Girls from Harmful Traditional Practices”. It can be recalled that during the December 17, 2016 Conference held in Abuja Nigeria, Leaders of ECOWAS member countries decided, among other things, that January 16 each year be celebrated as ECOWAS Human Rights Day. They agreed that the Day’s Declaration was necessary for the promotion of human rights and inclusive governance mainly with regards to women and youth within West Africa, and will serve as an opportunity to: 1. Reflect and recommit to solemn undertakings of the sub-regional body geared toward promoting and safeguarding human and people’s rights; 2. continuously awaken greater awareness about the value of life and humanity and to renew collective commitment to protect, respect, and uphold fundamental human rights; 1 3. symbolize expressed gratitude and partnership and continued collaboration aimed at strengthening sub-regional cooperation between member states and National Human Rights Institutions; and 4. Honor Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for all her accomplishments including being the first female democratically elected President of Liberia, and by extension ECOWAS sub-region and Africa. The Indoor Program held at a local hotel in Sinkor – Bella Casa- was characterized by the usual speeches and a panel discussion with focus on the international theme “Promoting Affirmative Action on the Right of the Girl Child to Education”. Five institutions participated in the discussion including the INCHR, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, ECOWAS Liberia Office, Civil Society, and the Ministry of Justice. Although the Minister of Education was invited to the program, as usual the ministry was not represented at all. In remarks, ECOWAS Special Envoy to Liberia, Ambassador Tunde Ajisomo, congratulated the President, Government and people of Liberia for celebrating the ECOWAS Human Rights Day. Amb. Ajisomo highlighted that the girl child is made vulnerable due to economic, social, cultural and political challenges. These most often result to abuses of the girl child. To therefore highlight the plight of the girl child, ECOWAS chose for the celebration of the 2019 international theme “Promoting Affirmative Action on the Right of the Girl Child to Education” and the national theme “Taking Action to protect our Girls from Harmful Traditional Practices”. Ambassador Ajisomo maintained that “every human being has the right to be protected under the law which is the guarantor of peace, security, protection and wellbeing its citizens”. He noted that State/government has the obligation to remove all discriminatory barriers and to undertake positive measures to assure equality including access to economic empowerment and advantages. International partners at the program assured that the International Community remains resolute in the fight for the rights of the girl child. According to Ambassador Ajisomo, the campaign to help fight against harmful traditional and cultural practices is high on even the African Continent’s agenda. 2 The AU has enunciated resolutions promoting campaign to help fight against harmful cultural and practices against the girl child. The United Nations global 2030 agenda for sustainable development equally champions inclusive equitable quality education (SDG Goal) as well as promoting lifelong learning opportunity for all including gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. Amb. Disclosed that to therefore address the UN sustainable development agenda, ECOWAS and its member states remain committed, through positive actions, on the rights of the girl child with adoption of the strategy framework for strengthening national child protection system which is to prevent and respond to violence, abuses and exploitations against children in West Africa.Article 57 of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework of 2008 recommends that member states adopt and implement specific policy to promote girl child education/empowerment. “This framework focuses on five quality areas sexual, physical and emotional violence against children including FGM and child marriage, child labor, civil registration vital statistics incorporating children on the move. ECOWAS as a regional body recognizes education as for sustainable development for peace stability in every nation.” For his part, the Acting Chair of the INCHR, Rev. Bartholomew Colley says taking action to protect our girls from harmful traditional practices is a “must” and a national priority. Rev. Colley reiterated that affirmative action has played and continues to play a critical role in opening opportunities for women (girls) and minorities by high lightening their plight in Liberia. Rev. Colley then linked the international theme “Promoting affirmative action on the right of the girl to education” and the national theme “Taking action to protect our girls from harmful traditional practices”. The INCHR Boss noted that if we must promote affirmative action on the right of the girl child to education, the foremost action must be to protect our girls from harmful traditional practices including but not limited to FGM, Fire byOrdeal, allegations and accusations of witchcraft, forceful initiation into traditional/cultural groups (Sande Society), among others. 3 Rev. Colley expressed disappointment over the fact that although statistics show that women and girls make up fifty percent of Liberia’s population or thereabouts, women are mostly considered for low paying jobs, traditional works and marginalized. “I want to make it abundantly clear to our people that our tradition is unique, with many good things but there are few practices that are harmful to health and our intercultural life that must be stopped…..The African Charter on Human and people Rights, ….the Conventions on Civil and political Rights and Economic social and Cultural rights signed and ratified by over fifty (50) states…all came into force mandating state parties to promote, protect and respect human rights in Africa. Unfortunately, these solemn legal commitments and covenants made by state parties are either ignored, disregarded by the very state parties, in most instances, with impunity”. Rev. Colley urged State parties to uphold all provisions of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and make Sate parties accountable to the people of Liberia and West Africa. At the same time, Inspirational speaker and River Gee County Senator Commany Wesseh touched briefly on a number of national issues bordering on human rights in Liberia and made recommendations to addressing these perceived problems. The Senator advised proponents of the Domestic Violence Bill to separate “domestic Violence” from that of “Harmful Traditional Practices” to speed up the passage of the Act.Senator Wesseh noted that passage of the Domestic Violence Bill is facing difficulties because of the combination of “traditional practices” and “domestic violence”. Senator Wesseh expressed the need to work along with traditional women as part of efforts aimed at finding holistic solution to the eradication of harmful traditional practices in Liberia within the shortest possible time. Senator Wesseh also spoke on the fracas on Capitol Hill involving university student politics and arrests of student leaders. He noted that government should stop interfering in students’ politics, describing the incident on the University of Liberia campus where student leaders were arrested and student politics temporarily banned “as a shame and something needs to be done to stop it”. 4 Touching on the issue of “Tenure” for some Presidential appointees, as mandated by the Act creating certain integrity institutions, Senator Wesseh maintained that to cut off the issue of tenure associated with certain integrity institutions should be discouraged. He urged government to see as a national priority the protection and promotion of fundamental human rights of all living the Liberian borders. Speaking on behalf of UNDP, Madam Fatima Kamara agreed with Senator Wesseh that the sexual and gender based violence bill should be separated from that of FGM, and that the UN will continue to advocate this with the Liberian government. She reiterated that the UN, in partnership with ECOWAS, the AU and other regional bodies, will continue to advocate with national governments not only girl child education, but also education for every child throughout the world. “For us as a UN, we look at this not from the perspective of rights base, but we see it as an obligation for us to advocate for the girl child education. Around one hundred and thirty one million girls in the world are still out of school. The latest UN report shows that out of school girls in primary level have grown from thirty two million in 2015 to thirty four million, so theirs is still a lot of work for us to do. …..In Liberia, if you look at the pro-poor agenda for prosperity and development, girl child education is also included in that.” However, Madam Kamara quickly added that despite the gains made in Liberia regarding women/girls empowerment, much still
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