Monrovia — Liberia's Foreign Minister H.E. Amb. Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr. has expressed Liberian government's profound gratitude and appreciation for the recognition of Liberia in the US State Department Human Trafficking report 2023, noting that the Government of Liberia is pleased with the report and committed to the fight against human trafficking.
The Liberian Foreign Minister made the statement when he received the US State Department Human Trafficking Report 2023, which moved the country, Liberia from Tier Two Watch list to Tier Two.
Minister Kemayah indicated that the Government of Liberia, under the dynamic leadership of H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah, is fully committed to working closely with the US government and other international partners aimed at improving Liberia's ranking on the next report.
He said recognizing the importance of increased capacity as well as multi-stakeholder collaboration, the government of Liberia will mobilize additional funds to effectively address trafficking cases and improve inter-agency response mechanism put in place to support survivors.
The Dean of the Cabinet also told the United States Envoy that Liberia's Minister of Labor, Cllr. Charles Gibson will continue to seek for donor's support in other to increase Public awareness of trafficking through community-based initiatives, aimed at increasing at-risk subjects' ability to recognize the methods used by traffickers in order to avoid falling victim to their ugly deals.
Minister Kemayah further assured the Government of the United States, through its Charge d' Affaires that Liberia as a country will remain on an irreversible path as it relates to the fight against human trafficking, noting that the Government of Liberia will work with the US Government through its Embassy in Monrovia to increase budgetary support to NGOs and civil society groups that are supporting trafficking victims.
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"We want to use this time to dedicate the acknowledgment and recognition of the good news for the Human Trafficking task force, that we are doing as country and government to the point that we maintaining our tier two standard, " the Minister further intoned.
The Liberian Chief Diplomat also used the occasion to dedicate the credit to the astute leadership of His Excellency Dr. George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia adding "it may seem simple, but it is not simple, it took leadership of the country to move from Tier Two Watch list to Tier Two, and it will take the same leadership quality to move us from Tier Two, to Tier One or beyond", Minister Kemayah stressed further.
For his part, Mr. Joel Maybury, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of the United States of America to Liberia congratulated Liberia for maintaining Tier Two in the US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report 2023, stating "We applaud the government for making significant efforts to meet minimum standards."
The United States Envoy said this is a good news story stressing that other countries wish to be on Tier Two, while countries that were in Tier One are brought down to Tier Two.
"Being on Tier Two is not a bad thing, but to make affects; the biggest thing to do is to show commitment, in order to do that, is through the budget, which shows that trafficking is a priority of the government of Liberia", the U S Charge d'Affaires further intoned.
