By Bill W. Cooper
Liberia has been selected as one of the countries to partake in the upcoming United States first of two planned virtual summit for democracy.
It is slated for December 9 and 10 and will bring together leaders from government, civil society organizations, and the private sector intended to set forth an affirmative agenda for democracy renewal as well as tackle through collective action the greatest threats faced by democracies.
Addressing news conference yesterday in Monrovia, United States Ambassador Michael McCarthy pointed out that Liberia’s selection for the summit was because of its established and flourishing democracy.
He said the last three presidential elections and the peaceful transferred of power in 2017 as well as government’s consistent commitment to nonviolence, free and fair elections also did exemplify why Liberia received invitation from the U.S. government.
McCarthy said it is important that the summit for democracy is not a celebration for world leaders to congratulate themselves on a job well done; instead, it is a call to renew action on grounds that democracies by their nature, are constant works in progress.
“This summit will be an opportunity for participants to commit to meaningful, new action that combats authoritarianism, defends and fight against corruption, and promotes respect for human rights and free press at home and abroad,” he intoned.
McCarthy explained further that the United States’ anticipation at the end of the conference is to see that all participants, including the United States and the Liberian government make meaningful individual commitments towards the summit’s objectives.
“These commitments will need to be ambitious yet realistic and concrete. We expect all participants to implement the commitments they make. In fact, participation in the second in-person summit slated for next year (2022) will depend on success in realizing those commitments,” the US envoy noted.
Meanwhile, the U.S. diplomat stated that the Biden administration is now looking forward to hearing as to what ambitious commitment will be made by the Liberian government while at the same time admonished journalist to be on alert and take note of the commitments that the government will make to enable them to do a follow-up on those commitment.
He added: “Take note of the commitments made by the government and follow their progress. Create commitment report cards in your papers and on your radio stations and update them monthly for the public.”
“Your job includes verifying and reporting accurately on government’s initiatives, because fulfilling these commitments should benefit all Liberians, so monitoring progress is a public good and important to democracy, which, of course, is the core purpose of the summit,” McCarthy averred.