PHOTO: Jean Duff
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
Over 150 religious leaders from across the country have converged in Monrovia for a four-day discussion aimed at sharing information and championing the rights of children in Liberia
The discussion, which brought together bishops, Imams and overseers, is organized by the Inter Religious Council of Liberia in collaboration with the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities with funding from the United Nations Children Fund.
Speaking at the beginning of the discussion, the President of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities, Jean Duff, said the training is intended to provide the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences among religious leaders in Liberia and organizations that working in the children sector
According to Madam Duff, the discussion is intended to learn from the long experiences by religion on children in Liberia and how the experience can be put to use to influence a lasting change.
She expressed the hope that the exchange of views and ideas will help make a difference for the children in Liberia especially adding value of the girl child.
In remarks, UNICEF Deputy Country Representative, Samuel Mawunganidje, stressed the need for the religious community to identify the problems of children in order to fully address them to make better them human beings.
As religious leaders, Mr. Mawunganidje, went on, “there is a need for us to work together as a group in order to achieve better for our future generations.”
For his part, the Vice President of the Inter Religious Council of Liberia, Sheik Omaru Kamara, suggested that religious leaders should encourage parents to cater to their children.
According to Sheik Kamara, the religious leaders should reduce the high rate divorces among young people in the country.
Also speaking , the Grand Motif of Liberia says Muslims will never engage in violence as a means of seeking solutions to socio-economic and political problems in the country.
Sheik Abubakar Sumaworo said people using religion to commit violence as a means seeking answers to the questions will never be allowed among the Muslim community
As for the former Secretary General of the Liberia Council of Churches, Dr. Benjamin Lartey, said the religious community has the greatest advantage to impact the children in any given society and Liberia is no exception. Dr. Lartey expressed concern about the children and stressed the need for a collective effort in tackling the problems affecting the rights and development children in the country.