Monrovia-October 11, 2021: At this year celebration of the child in the country, Gender Minister Minister Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr has called on people to get away from vices which continue to threaten the nurturing of girls globally.

Here Is Minister Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr Full Statement Below:

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Minister Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr welcome remarks at the observance of the International Day of the Girl Child
MVTC Theater, Somalia Drive, Paynesville, Monrovia

Representatives of UNICEF, PLAN INT’L, IRC, UFDUM, MEDICA-Liberia, the Liberia Children’s Representative Forum, DCI-Liberia;
GoL colleagues, other INT’L partners/ donors; parents, my beautiful smart sassy wonderful and daring to smash the stereotypes and be different Girls!!

I am honored to welcome all of you to this important celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child. On October 11th, 2012, the United Nations declared October 11th every year to be internationally observed as International Day of the Girl.

On this historic ninth edition of the observance of this important day, it is clear that our world is still a long way from giving girls a sound, safe and equitable society. Like Liberia, many nations around the world still fall short ensuring access to education, nutrition, healthcare, and legal rights for girls. To make matters worse, our girls continue to be subjected to discrimination, forced and early child marriage and victims of sexual and domestic violence.

Vices which continue to threaten the nurturing of girls globally have to stop and it must stop NOW! As we observe this year’s celebration, it is important to emphasize that the empowerment of girls is central to economic growth and the eradication of global poverty.

It is not only imperative that we continue to expand empowerment opportunities for our girls, it is mandatory for us to ensure that they take a front role seat on the table of decision making. By doing this, we can break the cycle of discrimination and violence against girls and promote the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights.

So—Where are my girls who dare to dream!? Dare to challenge the status quo? Dare to challenge the stereotypes!?

I am so round of you all in this room today and all over the country. The story of the liberian girl child is rife with challenges, but the Liberian girl child persists! Given the opportunity, She will continue to dare to conquer challenges in her life. All she needs is that booster from the adults around her, the Govt and partners who believe in her.

This year, we commemorate this day under the global theme “Digital Generation. Our Generation.” The national theme is “Bridging Digital Gap for Girls in Liberia”. As the world slowly but steadily recovers from the COVID-19 Pandemic which wrecked some of the strongest and most organized health systems on the planet, we are concerned about how we can increase learning opportunities, expanding connectivity and reducing poverty by utilizing various digital platforms. With girls in underdeveloped countries like ours lacking access to digital devices, it will be a clearly difficult for us to achieve this.
In order to bridge the digital gap, we must begin to provide opportunities for girls to acquire education in this sector by supporting programs in our schools. Without access to education we cannot enlighten girls on how the can unlock their boundless potentials using digital devices.

In Liberia, majority of school going girls are still yet to have seen or touched a computer. In today’s world, the demand for digital education is high. In fact digital knowledge is now fundamental to the acquisition of jobs and the attainment of stability both in the public and private sectors. As a government, we are happy with the growing number technical schools that are strictly concentrated on providing primary and advance digital education for our citizens.

As Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, I like to assure this gathering that the conversations being held here today will be elevated to the level of Cabinet, so as to ensure that we increase the level of support to the digital sector. I also like to use this platform to call on our partners to make this digital revolution central to their upcoming program by increasing support and helping to strengthen local technical institutions. Most importantly, In all that we do we believe in safety first for our girls. So we cannot hav this conversation without talking about taking purposeful, intentional steps to protect our girls in the digital world. This calls for ensuring safe internet, ensuring that we clamp down on cyber bullying,

Let me close by thanking all of you for making it your business to attend today celebration. It is my hope that the issues that will pop-out of today’s program will be transformed from words to actions.

We know that the digital Revolution is now, nevertheless we cannot achieve it without the girl child. So let’s continue to build our leaders of tomorrow by ensuring the girl child is invested in today!

Before I end, I am wearing a pin that says “When she leads, We have a voice!” This derives from a movement that started a some years ago called she decides. Every year I like to bring us back to what that means. This is because it is important that we make this a part of our mantra. You our girls have to take your space so that what you decide, becomes the new normal.

To that end, I will ask that you join me in repeating some paraphrased words from the SHE DECIDES MANIFESTO:

We want a world where – every girl, every woman, can decide what to do with her mind, with her BODY, with her LIFE, and with her FUTURE.

Without Question

Happy INT’L Day of the Girl Child!!