On today, August 16, the Ministry of Justice launched the Responsible Citizens Justice Program benefiting 10 high school students ranging from grades 10-12 with the aim of training them to becoming Justice Ambassadors.

The students were selected through a rigorous application process and assessment exam before being enrolled in the program.

This is a pilot program and the first of its kind at the Ministry of Justice, under the leadership of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Cllr. N. Oswald Tweh.

Providing an overview and concept of the program, one of the Justice Ambassadors, Student Claudia Poure of the Spiritan Academy listed the FOCUS OF THE PROGRAM as follows:

1. That students can identify and resolve conflicts, restore values, repair relationships, and establish dignity while learning the building blocks of peacemaking;

2. That students can learn about the rights of the child, the juvenile code process and procedures;

3. That students can learn about the role of the Ministry of Justice in apprehending and prosecuting law breakers and the support they give to the overall governance of a responsible society;

4. It will address both the roles of perpetrators of injustice and the victims of injustice;

5. That students will learn about accountability for wrongdoers so that they are empowered to take responsibility and make amends;

6. That students can help compel communities to work together in resolving conflict and addressing harm together; and

7. That each participant will pledge to become Justice-ambassadors in their various communities, schools,churches, mosques and homes.

The keynote statement of the program was delivered by Cllr. N. Oswald Tweh who said:” The children of Liberia are the future of the country , but without providing guidance on how they can become responsible citizens, we will yield very little result.” He also called on the Ministry of Gender, children and Social Protection, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Ministry of Education to work along with the Ministry of Justice as part of the role assigned them in keeping with the 2011 Children’s law of Liberia, which called for their collective efforts to protect the children of Liberia.

He said “ it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men,” quoting, abolitionist and statesman, Frederick Douglass.

The freshman class of the Responsible Citizens Justice Program speaking through their representative, Student Theodore S. Green, Jr. of the Lott Carey Mission School, thanked the Minister of Justice and his team for the program and recommended that reform programs for juvenile delinquents who are in prison be developed and implemented so that they too can come out of that system being reformed and transformed into responsible citizens. He said that this recommendation came about, while visiting the Monrovia Central Prison on a field trip as part of the training they received, and it was a humbling experience interacting with their fellow age mates who came in conflict with the law and are now juvenile delinquents, he said.

The program was attended by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Cllr. J Cole Bangalu, Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Atty. Laura Golakeh , Assistant Minister for Early Childhood Education at the Ministry of Education, Fasam Howard- Nyensuah , CENTAL, the United Nations Development Program, Country Representative to Liberia, Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah , UNICEF , parents among others.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Cllr. J .Cole Bangalu , making remarks at the program applauded the Minister of Justice for this laudable initiative and pledged his support to the Ministry of Justice to ensuring that this become a national program.

The representatives from the ministries of Education and Gender also thanked the minister of Justice and his team , and they too stated that they were pleased with this initiative and they look forward to providing their full support.

Additionally, the United Nations Development Program, Country Representative, Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah called for a close collaboration with the Ministry of Justice on this program and encouraged the Minister to increase the enrollment of children in the next phase.

For her part,the representative from UNICEF called on all governmental agencies responsible for children to work together to make bigger impacts for the children of Liberia together.

The Justice Ambassadors are tasked with opening justice clubs in their various schools so that they can teach and share with their peers all that they will learn at the end of this program to create a community of responsible citizens through out Liberia.