09 May 2024 Meeting with the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection

On May 8, a team from the Mental Health Unit of the Benedict Menni Center held a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection of the Government of Liberia, Josephine Greaves, with whom they established the basis for a possible collaboration agreement.

The delegation was made up of Ato Kwamena, coordinator of the We Are Like You project, Mikel Tellaeche, head of Programs at the Benedict Menni Center and managing director of the Aita Menni Hospital in Mondragon (Spain), and José Luis Girón, care director of the center.

The meeting was the culmination of previous informal meetings in which the possibility of establishing some kind of collaboration had been sounded out, and Alfreda Jacobs, director of the Ministry’s Social Assistance Division, also took part in the meeting. The Benedict Menni team presented the mental health project and expressed their willingness to contribute to the development of the Ministry’s policies through advocacy, psychosocial and clinical interventions for vulnerable people.

The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection is a government ministry in Liberia responsible for promoting gender equality, protecting the rights and welfare of children, and providing social protection to vulnerable populations.

The ministry’s key areas of focus include, Gender equality and women’s empowerment, Child protection and welfare, Social protection, and support for vulnerable groups (including people with disabilities, the elderly, and survivors of gender-based violence), and Human rights promotion and protection.

Some specific programs and initiatives of the ministry includes, The National Gender Policy, The Liberia National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, The Child Protection Policy, The Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP), and The Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention and Response Program.

This meeting has provided the room to have a memorandum of understanding between the two parties. We look forward to a successful partnership as we continue our quest to improve mental, neurological and substance use disorders in Liberia.