a) Non-discrimination (Articles 3 and 26)
The Children‟s Law stipulates the principle of non-discrimination as a complementary principle to the best
interest of the child in the interpretation and implementation of the law which states that “no decision or action
shall be taken whose result or likelihood is to discriminate against any child on the basis of sex, family, color,
race, ethnicity, place of origin, language, religion, economic status, parents, or any other status;”
The Education Reform Act of 2011 also has a major focus on provisions of equal and non-discriminatory access
to education. The Ministry of Education is currently leading a process for consultations on policy direction and
measures for inclusive education.
The Children‟s Law contains a full section (section 4) on the rights of children with disabilities including the
right” to enjoy full and dignified life,” special care conducive to full integration and individual development. It
also stipulates the duties of local authorities to seek appropriate support from central government to assist the
families and caregivers of children with disabilities. As a complement to the Penal law, an amendment has been
proposed to the Penal Code, making discrimination on the basis of the child‟s disability or ethnicity a felony of
the second degree.
b) Best interests of the child (Article 4)
Article II section 2 of the Children‟s Law provides “in all decisions and actions that may affect the child, the
best interest of the child shall be the paramount consideration. This principle shall underlie and guide the
interpretation of this law, subject to the constitution, its impact on other laws.”
c) The right to life, survival and development (Article 5)
Article III of the Children‟s Law provides, “Every child shall have the right to survival.”
Liberia has made immense progress in ensuring child survival. It has made noticeable efforts in reducing child
mortality, passing from 227 deaths per 1000 living births in 1990 to 103 deaths for 1000 living births in 2010.
Maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) was successfully eliminated. MNT elimination activities took place in
Liberia over three years (2006-2008) and a total of 850,000 women and child bearing age were targeted in this
endeavor. No polio cases were reported in 2011. The immunization coverage increased to 77% in 2011
compared to 39% (as measured by the DTP3) in 2007 and measles and pentavalent coverage was consistently
maintained above 90%.
RED (Reaching Every District) and REPW (Reaching Every Pregnant Woman) approaches were launched to
address child morbidity and mortality in all the 15 counties and ensure equitable access to delivery of basic
health services for all children and women in Liberia. A road map for accelerating the reduction of maternal and
neonatal mortality was developed in order to meet the MDG4 and 5 by 2015.
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has developed the National Child Survival Strategy to serve as a
major component to individual-oriented clinical services for implementation of the Basic Package of Health
Services (BPHS), now expanded to the Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS).
Integrated Community Case Management (ICCM) was initiated to improve case management of childhood
diseases such as malaria, diarrhea and ARI at the community level. 80% of primary health care facilities in 4 of
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