Liberia’s Deputy Minister for Cultural Affairs and Tourism Lance Gbagonyon
The Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) has announced the lifting of a temporary moratorium placed on the organization of the ‘Miss Liberia’ pageant.
According to a MICAT press release, the organization of the event will be led by MICAT with support from a National Steering Committee and an event planner.
This approach, according to MICAT, is intended to address challenges which have diminished the prestige and morale of the Miss Liberia Crown, something it said has caused a decline in the zeal and momentum of the Pageant.
Some of these challenges, according to MICAT include “over centralization of the pageant that has limited local participation, poor organization – low standards that are incompatible to internationally acceptable pageant standards, lack of transparency in the selection process at the county-level especially during recruitment and auditioning, inadequate financial support/limited sponsorship from the government of Liberia and the private sector.”
Other challenges as outlined by MICAT include “inadequate eligibility Standards where organizers are sometimes pressured into allowing ineligible contestants; including overage, poorly educated, and wrong alignment of contestants to counties and inability of organizer to provide prizes promised to participants.”MICAT furthered the ‘Miss Liberia Beauty Pageant’ seeks to promote the beauty and diversity of Liberia’s cultural heritage and is also aim at promoting national unity.
It also serves as the platform for the empowerment of young Liberian women by affording them the opportunity to showcase their talents, charisma, beauty and academic excellence.
Meanwhile, the Ministry has announced that the application process starts as of Monday, March 2 and ends at the end of this month.Application form, MICAT said, can be picked up at MICAT in Monrovia and the Superintendent office at the County level.
According to MICAT, The Country has been divided into four zones for auditioning purpose and they include Grand Gedeh, River Gee, Sinoe, Grand Kru, and Maryland Counties as Zone One; while Zone 2 consists of Bong, Nimba and Lofa Counties.
Zone Three, MICAT added include Montserrado, Bomi, Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu Counties; and Zone Four covers Grand Bassa, Rivercess and Margibi Counties.
Meanwhile, MICAT added there will be 30 queens (two from each county) selected from the audition to participate in the main event in Monrovia. Out of the 30, 15 candidates will be selected for the grand finale in Monrovia.
Eligibility
To be eligible, a contestant must be a Liberian, resident of Liberia six months prior to the auditions in the counties, must be between the ages 18-27 years old; single and never been married; must not have child/children and should not have any criminal records.
Eligible candidates, according to the organizers, must also be eloquent in spoken and written English, and have basic knowledge of the county they wish to represent.
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Additionally, eligible candidates must be at least a student of tertiary institution with a valid high school diploma and WAEC/WASSCE certificates, among others.According to MICAT, prizes are geared towards reawakening the zeal and prestige of the pageant and will include cash prize for top winners.
Top winners will also be awarded education grant for the duration of one year, one year-housing allowance, laptops, as well as phones for all finalists.
Top Winners will also represent Liberia at international and regional pageants including ‘Miss World, Miss Africa, and Miss Universe, among others.
