PHOTO: NED officials Dave Peterson and Dr. Jude Mutah planting the first trees near Monrovia last week
The Young Women’s Action for Rights, Peace and Development (YWARPD) will this week formally launch its campaign to plant 5,000 trees across Liberia, after a pre-launch ceremony with two officials of the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) planting the first trees near Monrovia last week.
According to the Program Manager of the YWARPD, Mrs. Harriet Zoyah, the launching ceremony takes place this Thursday, on March 9, 2023, and it is part of the group’s program objectives.
The event forms part of celebration marking the International Women’s Day by the organization and it will also include a Walk for Young Women and the Environment from the compound of the Monrovia Transit Authority (MTA) to Jacob Town, where a number of symbolic trees will be planted along the Japan Freeway. The overall theme for the Tree Planting campaign is “Plant a Tree, Save the Environment”.
As part of the ceremony, a number of key personalities, including the UN Women Representative, Madam Comfort Lamptey, the Managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Mr. C Mike Doryen, the Representative of District 2, Hon Jimmy Smith, the Gender Program Manager at the European Union, Simona Camillini, US Ambassador Michael McCarthy and others are expected to lead a number of personalities to plant the first trees.
Meanwhile, the Program Team of YWARPD met with a team from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) at its office last week. The meeting provided the platform for the two groups to discuss a proposal titled “Young Liberians Democrats Project: Strategize to Mobilize First Time Voters to Support Democracy Values, participate in the 2023 Election in Liberia and Espouse, Free and Nonviolence Elections in Liberia” which was submitted by YWARPD to NED.
The proposal seeks to mobilize first time voters to adequately participate in the upcoming elections and support democracy and encompasses a number of innovative activities, including Liberia’s first Time Voter Summit, the training and deployment of First Time Voters Election Observation Teams in the 17 Electoral Districts in Montserrado County, first time voters town hall meetings with representative aperient, the establishment of democracy clubs in schools across Montserrado County, among other things.
As part of the visit, Dr. Jude Mutah, Program Officer for Africa and Dave Paterson, Senior Director of Africa for NED, as well as Dr. James Z. Kapel, Sr. Pastor of the Calvary Temple AGM School planted three trees along the Japan Freeway.