President Boakai Declares Monday, June 16 ‘Day of the African Child and the World Day Against Child Labor’
The President of the Republic of Liberia, His Excellency Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., has by Proclamation declared Monday, June 16, 2025 as the “Day of the African Child and the World Day Against Child Labor”, to be observed throughout the Republic as a Working Holiday. According to a Foreign Ministry release, the Government of Liberia will join the African Union Commission (AUC) and other international partners in collaboration with the Liberia’s Children’s Representative Forum featuring the participation of over 1,000 children representing all fifteen counties of Liberia and children across the African under the Global theme: “Planning and Budgeting For Children’s Right: Progress Since 2010 and the National theme: “From Planning to Impact: Securing Resources For Every Liberia Child” And “Lets Act On Our Commitments: End Child Labor”.
On that day, history recorded the brutal massacre in Soweto, the Republic of South Africa, of protesting black school students against Apartheid, while advocating for equal rights and opportunities. According to the Proclamation, the core significance of the observance of the Day of the African Child is firstly in memory of hundreds of black school children who participated in the Soweto uprising in 1976. An assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now African Union Commission (AUC), in keeping with Resolution CM/RES.1290 XL, declared 16th of June each year as the “Day of the African Child” which will be jointly celebrated with the World Day Against Child Labor (June 12), an International Labor Organization (ILO)-sanctioned holiday first launched in 2002, aiming to raise awareness and activism to prevent child labor.
The Proclamation further indicated that in adherence to the Convention of the Right of the Child, the Government of the Republic of Liberia ratified the Convention by an Act of Legislature in 1992, which guarantees the full protection of children from all forms of depravation and abuse. The Proclamation also disclosed that on Monday, June 16, 2025, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and international partners will join in the celebration of the Day of the African Child and the World Day Against Child Labor, an event that will include the County and National Elections of the Liberia National Children’s Representative Forum, educational activities, and a campaign to raise awareness about the rights and welfare of children in Liberia. The Proclamation therefore calls upon all citizens and foreign residents, national and international youth organizations as well as government agencies concerned to join the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Ministry of Labor to plan and implement appropriate programs befitting the occasion.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Liberia.
