One hundred and fourteen days after assuming office on February 23, 2026, Minister of Youth and Sports Atty. Cornelia Wonkerleh Kruah has delivered an unflinching assessment of the state of Liberia's youth sector, combining a candid acknowledgment of deep-rooted institutional challenges with an ambitious vision for reform and national transformation.
Presenting her administration's 100-Day Report, Minister Kruah outlined both the progress achieved and the significant obstacles that continue to hinder the Ministry's ability to fully serve Liberia's young people. "We must be honest about what we have not yet solved," the Minister declared, setting the tone for a report marked by transparency and accountability.
Among the challenges highlighted were deteriorating infrastructure, inadequate transportation resources, weak institutional systems, and longstanding administrative constraints.
The Minister revealed that while efforts have largely stabilized electricity at the Ministry, significant work remains to renovate Youth Centers and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) facilities across the country. She also noted the absence of an integrated system linking the Ministry's headquarters to county operations, insufficient vehicles and motorcycles for staff, and the need to strengthen security logistics.
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One of the most pressing institutional concerns, according to Kruah, is the Ministry's lack of a standalone headquarters.
Currently housed within the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, the Ministry's administrative offices face operational and security limitations. The arrangement, she argued, undermines the institutional identity of a ministry charged with leading Liberia's youth development agenda.
"Our administrative offices are physically absorbed into the SKD Sports Complex. That arrangement compromises both the security of our operations and the institutional identity of this Ministry," she stated.
The report also identified outdated financial management systems as a major concern. The Ministry continues to rely heavily on manual accounting processes, limiting reporting accuracy, record reliability, and internal controls. Procurement of a computerized accounting system has been prioritized for the next phase of reforms.
Equally concerning, the Minister acknowledged, is a staff compensation structure that falls short of attracting and retaining the skilled workforce needed to sustain a reform-driven institution.
Before launching major policy initiatives, Minister Kruah embarked on an extensive nationwide listening tour across all 15 counties between March and April 2026.
Accompanied by officials from the Ministry, the President's Youth Advisory Council, and the Ministry's Creative Council, the tour sought to gather firsthand perspectives from young people and assess conditions on the ground. What emerged was what the Minister described as "two Liberia's existing at the same time."
On one hand, she encountered talented, articulate, and determined young Liberians eager to contribute to national development. From Voinjama to Barclayville, Cestos City to Ganta, youth presented detailed petitions, voiced concerns, and demonstrated readiness to seize opportunities.
On the other hand, the tour exposed decades of systemic neglect. Youth centers struggling to deliver meaningful services, TVET institutions that have remained closed since 2017, weak grassroots sports structures outside Montserrado County, deteriorating facilities, and limited pathways connecting education, skills development, sports, and entrepreneurship.
"The gap between the readiness of our young people and the systems that should be catching them became the organizing purpose of these first one hundred days," Kruah emphasized.
The report also highlighted a series of strategic international engagements aimed at positioning Liberia for greater investment and collaboration in youth and sports development.
Looking back to her March engagement, the Minister announced that the Ministry initiated discussions with the Real Madrid Foundation in Spain, one of the world's leading youth education-through-sport organizations operating in 65 countries. Technical teams are currently pursuing a formal partnership to establish an Educational Football Program and Social-Sports School in Liberia.
A month later, the Ministry led a high-level working visit to France under the bilateral cooperation framework established by Presidents Joseph Boakai and Emmanuel Macron in 2025. Meetings with the French Ministry of Sports, Youth and Community Life, the French National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP), the French National Olympic Committee, and multiple sports federations resulted in the formation of a Joint Technical Working Group and preliminary agreements with four international sports organizations.
The Ministry has also strengthened collaboration with the United Nations system. Discussions with UN Resident Coordinator Christine N. Umutoni and UNDP Resident Representative Aliou Mamadou Dia led to commitments supporting three major initiatives: a ministerial-level Youth, Peace and Security side event at the United Nations General Assembly in September, the development of Liberia's first-ever State of the Youth Report, and broader institutional capacity-building support.
According to the Youth and Sports Minister, Atty Cornelia Wonkerleh Kruah, the Ministry is also building a development finance portfolio valued at more than US$20 million in partnership with organizations including the African Development Bank.
Perhaps the most significant announcement of the report was the unveiling of "Rooted and Rising," the Ministry's new ten-year vision framework for youth empowerment, sports development, and national transformation.
The strategy is built around six reform pillars: Governance and Institutional Reform; Evidence, Design and Foresight; the Pathway Framework; Sports as an Economy; the Creative Economy; and Strategic Investment.
Structured in two phases, Foundation to 2030 and Acceleration to 2035, the vision aims to provide a long-term roadmap for transforming opportunities available to Liberia's youth.
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As part of the reform agenda, Minister Kruah announced plans to initiate the repeal of PRC Decree No. 35 of 1982, the legislation that has governed the Ministry for more than four decades.
The Minister argued that the decree no longer reflects contemporary realities, having been enacted before Liberia's democratic reconstruction, the emergence of the digital age, and the rise of the creative economy. "We will work closely with the Legislature to replace it with legislation that reflects what this Ministry actually is and what it must become," she said.
Despite celebrating early achievements and growing international partnerships, Kruah stressed that sustainable progress depends on confronting inherited structural weaknesses. "The pace of reform, the reach of our programs, and the quality of delivery that Liberia's young people deserve are all directly contingent on resolving these inherited gaps," she noted.
As the Ministry moves beyond its first 100 days, her report presents a clear message: youth development remains one of Liberia's most urgent national priorities, and addressing the gap between youthful potential and institutional capacity will define the success of the government's agenda in the years ahead.
For Minister Kruah, the first 100 days were less about claiming victory and more about laying the foundation for a long-term transformation, one rooted in honesty, accountability, and a commitment to ensuring that Liberia's young people have the opportunities they deserve.
