Ambassador McCarthy stresses children’s education

United States Ambassador to Liberia Michael McCarthy has emphasized the importance of parental and community involvement in the education of Liberian children, including the need to start school at the right time, and the benefits of staying in school, especially for girls.

According to the Embassy of the United States of America near Monrovia, Ambassador McCarthy spoke in Kakata, Margibi County recently when he visited USAID health and education programs in the county which coincided with celebrations marking the Day of the African Child and distribution of treated bed nets among the population to prevent malaria infections in all 15 counties.

The Day of the Africa Child is commemorated annually on June 16 in remembrance of the 1976 Soweto massacre by the then Apartheid regime in South Africa.

The Soweto uprising was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black schoolchildren in South Africa that began on the morning of 16 June 1976.

It is estimated that 20,000 students took part in the protests. They were met with fierce police brutality and many were shot and killed.

While in the county, Ambassador McCarthy first visited Sackie Gbomoh Public School, which receives support from the U.S. Government through the USAID Read Liberia and Accelerated Quality Education programs. 

He thanked the gathered leaders, educators, parents, and community members for their commitment to the education of children in the community.

The U.S. Envoy then toured the newly renovated facilities and joined grades 1 and 2 students, who were reading new books. 

The release says both the renovations and the newly published books were funded by the American taxpayers via U.S. Government programs.

Ambassador McCarthy then met with county health officials and community members at C.H. Rennie Hospital and the Kakata Health Center before joining them in launching the large-scale bed net distribution campaign that takes place every three years.

This year, the campaign is funded by the U.S. Government and the Global Fund and led by the Government of Liberia and Plan International. 

A total of 2.7 million insecticide-treated bed nets are being distributed from June 16 to 25 with close monitoring from the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative team. 

The release underscores that sleeping under an insecticide-treated bed net is one of the best ways to prevent malaria infections, and Liberia is the first to distribute country-wide the new interceptor next generation (iG2) nets, which use two highly effective insecticides to kill mosquitoes on contact.

As the visit concluded, Ambassador McCarthy thanked the community leaders, professionals, parents, and young people for their commitment to the health and education of the children in Margibi County.  County Superintendent Kerry Varnie assured the Ambassador that Margibi will make maximum use of the U.S. Government investment.

 Ambassador McCarthy said that he will fondly remember his trip to Kakata and hopes to come back in the near future to celebrate their progress. https://thenewdawnliberia.com/liberian-women-are-disproportionately-affected/Press Release