Please PRAY!

Last night Adrian became aware of a bill in progress in Liberia. Please pray for the children in Liberia. There is a spiritual war going on right now.
Below you will find a copy if the news article. When I get more information I will post it.

Daily Observer March 30, 2009

MONROVIA, The House of Representatives has passed into law the Children's Bill and instructed its chief clerk, James Kabah, to forward the Act to the Liberian Senate for its concurrence.

Members of the House of Representatives unanimously voted in favor of the bill late Thursday, March 26, 2009, after a series of consultations through cross-country legislative retreats that led to the strengthening of the bill to satisfy both local and international standards.

The Children's Bill was drafted and sponsored by the House's Committee on Gender, Equity and Child Development, chair by Bong County District #1 Representative, Corpu G. Barclay. Ms. Barclay has openly expressed her deep satisfaction with her colleagues' decision to pass the bill into law.

The Children's Bill suffered two years of setback since it was introduced to the Legislature in 2007.

But with support from the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Committee sketched a revised bill to conform to international child rights instruments, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

The revised version of the Children's Bill that was enacted last week seeks to protect the rights of the child from early marriage, over work and other harmful traditional practices as well as adoption, amongst others.

Speaking to our reporter shortly following the bill's passage Thursday evening, Rep. Corpu Barclay thanked her colleagues in the Lower House enacting it into law, giving full protection to the rights of the Liberian child.

Barclay also thanked UNICEF and other partners for supporting her Committee and pledged her commitment to fostering and supporting those things intended to protect the rights of the Liberian child.

She appealed to Legislators in the Upper House (the Liberian Senate) to concur with the Lower House's approved version of the Act so as to legally protect our children and create a conducive living environment for them.

Rep. Barclay, whose is a career registered nurse (RN), pointed out that by passing the Children's Bill into law, the 52nd National Legislature would be making history for our children and country at large.

There is no legal instrument that protects the rights of the child in Liberia. This, Rep. Barclay noted, is unacceptable because, according to her, Liberia is a signatory to all of the international instruments on the rights of the child.

According to the Bong County lawmaker, concerns that were raised by some lawmakers regarding traditional practices that were considered harmful and prohibitive in the first draft bill were all settled before it passage into.