B.
Youth and Employment
58.
Liberia has a high unemployment rate among the country’s youth. While employment
for a greater percentage of Liberian youths remains a great challenge, the country has taken
the following significant measures to address the problem:
• Reactivated the Ministry of Labor’s Apprenticeship and Liberia Vacation Job Programs.
These programs, which aim to expose students of all ages to practical work experiences
and inform them of career choices, place Liberian youth in both public and private
institutions around the country. In 2009, the Liberian Vacation Job Program was able to
provide job opportunities for more than 5000 youth.
• Created the National Youth Volunteer Services and the Volunteers for Peace
Programme. These programs provide training and employment opportunities for
Liberian youth as peace ambassadors, teachers and mentors. Further, the Ministry of
Youth & Sports, through the Monrovia Vocational and Training Corporation, provides
trainings for unskilled youth in the areas of carpentry, auto‐mechanics, masonry,
tailoring, etc.
C.
Right to Education, Human Rights Education & Awareness
59.
In 2006, Liberia relaunched the Free and Compulsory Primary Education Program
(FACPEL). The aims of the program are: to ensure that all children start primary education at
the national school level starting at the age of 5 and complete primary education, to provide all
children access to primary education that improves learning and cognitive skills in an
environment conducive to their physical and mental wellbeing, and to ensure that no child is
denied the right to primary education as a result of age or other circumstances.
60.
With a view of promoting basic education to all, the country is implementing the
Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). The program targets individuals ages 8‐15 whose primary
education was interrupted as a result of the conflict and has effectively increased over‐age
school enrollment. Additionally, Liberia has completed the Non‐Formal Education (NFE)
curriculum. The curriculum, which targets individuals age 15‐35, covers literacy, numeracy, life
skills and work readiness.
61.
Furthermore, Liberia has incorporated Peace, Human Rights and Citizenship Education
(PEHCED) program into the curriculum of elementary and secondary schools and trained
teachers in methods for teaching the program. The PEHCED program includes concepts such as
human rights and responsibilities, peace and humanitarian law, sense of nationhood and other
similar concepts.
62.
Other measures taken by Liberia to improve access to and quality of education include:
building and renovating educational facilities in different parts of the country, providing tuition
assistance to students attending teacher colleges, producing and distributing textbooks and
other teaching and reading materials, implementing the Early Grade Reading Assessment
15