Monrovia – In the wake of the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in Liberia, the advocacy group, ‘Action for Justice and Human Rights (AJHR) has launched a massive ‘Mask-Up campaign with the aim of encouraging people to wear masks in public places and turn up for the COVID-19 vaccines.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the Executive Director of AJHR, Satta Sheriff said, through the campaign, the organization is expected to reach out to 1.5 million people across the 15 counties of Liberia before July 26, 2021.
To ensure its successful implementation, she said her organization will engage schools, communities and youth organizations to fully implement the COVID-19 protocols.
“In the coming days, our team will be in various communities, on social media platforms, radio shows and in the 15 counties educating people on how to wear covid approved masks, displaying social distancing techniques and distributing masks,” she said.
She further mentioned that over 50 national youth Mask ambassadors will help lead the campaign.
Liberia is currently experiencing its third wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, which spreading at an alarmingly rate. The latest statistics from health officials as of June 22, 2021 showed there are 119 new confirmed cases, 43 recoveries and four new deaths.
The AJHR boss called for a concerted effort to defeat COVID-19.
“For COVID to be eradicated out of Liberia, everybody needs to act. Everybody needs to wear mask. We need to wash our hands, regularly clean, and disinfect open surfaces, avoid contact with already infected people and always keep a 6 feet distance when in the public. We believe that the more Liberians we can get to wear mask, the better we stand a chance to defeat COVID.”
The advocacy group also announced the launch of its ‘Wesay Change Safety Hub’ project. The Safety Hub, Sheriff said, is an activity under AJHR’s ‘Wesay Change Project’ that targets high School students and school administrators within Montserrado County to join the fight against sexual abuse.
“Through our Safety Hub, we provide mentorship and guidance for students; empower students with advocacies strategies and techniques to champion the fight against Human Rights violation and Sexual abuse in their schools and communities.
According to her, AJHR is currently working with over 60 high schools, 30 students and two administrators from each of these schools for the successful implementation of the project.
She noted that when her group joined the affiliation of women and child rights organization to demand the government of Liberian to declare rape as a national emergency, there was a call for a complete overhauling of the national educational curriculum to include consent, sex and health education at all high schools.
She said it is evident that cases relative to sexual and gender based violence continues to increase, adding, “As we fight COVID out of Liberia, let’s not forget about the many survivors and victims of sexual abuse. Let’s continue to work to make Liberia a safe space for women and children.”