The Spirit of Volunteerism- UN Liberia joins the rest of the International Community and Local Organizations for Cleanup Campaign

On a sunny Thursday morning, the United Nations family, joined the rest of international community, in a volunteers cleanup campaign exercise in Monrovia.  

Local organizations and community members were also present with their brooms, shovels and rakes, as they awaited the commencement of the cleanup.

Speaking before the kickoff, Ms. Christine N. Umutoni, UN Resident Coordinator, underscored the importance of volunteerism and clean environment. “The UN in Liberia is here to support volunteerism, community work, environmental protection, and waste management. We are here as part of the cleanup volunteers’ campaign. Our hope is that this becomes part of the DNA of the country and part of the long-term work that is embedded in the work of Liberia. We are so happy you invited us.”

She then disclosed the contribution of the UN to this exercise. “In addition to being here in person to clean up, the UN also contributed tools and materials to this campaign. For all of us, we want to link this to long-term environmental protection, waste management, and strategic sort of cooperation goal going forward. We hope to work together most importantly to link this campaign to the principal of voluntarism.”

Ms Bidisha Pillai, UNFPA Country Representative, praised the energy of the atmosphere and the number of young people involved in the cleanup campaign. She lauded the youth for coming forward and “building a Liberia that they aspire for... and this campaign is a great start.”

Mr. Varney Sannoh, the Public Relations officer of the Campaign initiative, stated that the communities saw the need for cleaning up the dirt in the cities, thus leading to the birth of the cleanup campaign. “We feel so proud of the support from the international community today, and are absolutely elated. This means that we are getting there...”, he enthused.

The clean-up campaign initiative, which was launched on November 30th, 2023, has had over 10,000 volunteers signing up.