The NEWS
(Monrovia)
Jimmey C. Fahngon
7 October 2008
Monrovia — The World Bank is expected to formally launch the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Liberian girls in the United States of America, Presidential Press Secretary, Cyrus Wleh Badio has disclosed.
According to him, the Adolescent Girls Initiative would be launched during the bank's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
He said the initiative, also supported by Denmark, is intended to provide increased economic opportunities for the targeted Liberian girls.
The Presidential Press Secretary made the disclosure Monday at his regular press briefing held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia.
He told reporters that beneficiaries of the initiative would be trained in specific areas that would equip them with the requisite skills for job opportunities.
Mr. Badio said President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is pleased about the prospects the initiative would provide for Liberian girls.
According to him, the President views the initiative as another step to empowering the women of Liberia towards Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).
Badio explained that while in the United States recently, President Johnson-Sirleaf convened a meeting of Foundations and other non-governmental organizations operating in Liberia. He said during the meeting they discussed programs being undertaken in Liberia by various Foundations.
He said the Foundations also discussed ways through which they can harmonize and integrate their operations around a number of programs, as a means of scaling up their activities to derive the desired impact.
He also asserted that the forum will examine how they run their businesses successfully, and how those experiences can be applied within the context of scaling up the operations of Foundations in Liberia for the effective implementation of programs in line with the country's Poverty Reduction Strategy.
More than 30 Foundation heads and representatives of other partners participated in the recent meeting attended by former US President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Group Foundation (CGI), Billionaire George Soros of the Open Society Institute, Billionaire Robert L. Johnson of the RLJ Companies & Liberia Enterprise Development Fund, the Scott Family Foundation as well as the McCall MacBain Foundation represented by its CEO John MacBain, ArcelorMittal Foundation, the Belinda Stronach Foundation, the Carter Center, among others.
In another development, Badio said the President is expected to shortly meet with the leadership of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) to formally present the US$100,000 for the Union's headquarters project.
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