Monrovia – A youth-led media initiative, Youth Media Action, has embarked on a campaign aimed at electoral reform in Liberia.
The Executive Director of the Group, Varmah Kamara said electoral reform is critical to the sustenance of Liberia’s peace and fragile democracy.
Kamara asserted that if the country is to strengthen its democracy, there is a need to review some of the vital electoral laws on the books which have the propensity to undermine the democratic fabric of the society.
He identified tenures for the three branches of government, the timeline for elections which takes place during the Rainy Season and the establishment of a special election court paramount electoral issues that need to be addressed ahead of future electoral matters.
Youth Media Action Executive Director was speaking over the weekend at the end of a two-day comprehensive workshop on Electoral Reform and Press club’s manual development organized by Internews for YMA staff where he thanked Internews for its continuous support.
The training aimed at bolstering the capacities of staffs of the Youth Media Action on electoral reform issues and Manual development in order to enhance their activities in the various high schools in Monrovia and its environs.
Speaking Earlier, the Chief of Party at Internews, Madam Jan McArthur said the training focused on building the capacities of youth organizations like Youth Media Action to invoke positive change.
Madam McArthur added that young people who are the future of the state must take charge and effect the changes they desire to reflect in the future for good governance.
She believes that the just ended training will provide Youth Media Action better insight and understanding of issues surrounding electoral reform and developing a training guide.
While Manual development courses will play a significant role in the ongoing Press Clubs programs for young people desiring to be future journalists.
For his part, the Facilitator of the training, Samuka Konneh of Internews thanked the participants of the training while urged them to use the knowledge learn to transform the organization.
Mr. Konneh emphasized that if Liberia is to make significant progress both locally and international, the young people who are in majority must take the lead.
Youth Media Action established in 2016, June is currently working with various high schools in Monrovia and its environs.
The organization is using a grass root approach to train and empower young people desiring to be journalists in order to revolutionize the Liberian media. Since the program began, several young people have benefitted from the program and are now seeking a degree in Mass Communication at various higher institutions of learning with few sent on internship unlike the past where the profession was downplayed by many high school graduates.
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