Published: Monrovia, Liberia, 6 December 2024

Liberia has officially launched the Liberia Malaria Youth Corps, becoming the 14th country in Africa to establish a youth-led movement dedicated to combating malaria. Held in Sinkor, Monrovia the event brought together partners from the Ministry of Health, Remote Health Reach, and the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP).

We are proud to launch the Liberia Malaria Youth Corps, a movement that places young people at the forefront of our fight against malaria. As our new advocates and change-makers, we look forward to seeing the youth strengthen community engagement, address barriers to health services, and promote preventive measures to improve health outcomes across Liberia.

Dr. Yatta Sackie-Wapoe, Deputy Program Manager of the NMCP, speaking on behalf of Dr. Catherine Cooper, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Minister for Health Services

The Liberia Malaria Youth Corps will equip young leaders to champion malaria prevention, encourage early treatment, and drive community-level action in line with the Zero Malaria Starts With Me campaign. These young leaders will work with the malaria programme and build partnerships with stakeholders to advance youth-led efforts across malaria, NTDs and other health challenges.

As the newest youth corps on the continent, this is a big step for us as young Liberians to join the efforts in tackling the health challenges our people face. But it’s not just a local effort—we are proud to be part of a continent-wide movement where youth lead the charge for a malaria-free Africa.

Elijah Tingban, Country Lead for the Liberia Malaria Youth Corps

This launch caps a year of significant progress in establishing youth corps across Africa, underscoring the growing recognition of young people’s role in driving the continent’s malaria elimination agenda. It follows the recent 1st Africa Malaria and NTD Youth Corps Forum, where youth leaders from 15 countries outlined a shared roadmap for action, emphasising multisectoral collaboration to tackle pressing challenges such as climate change, resource gaps, and biological threats.

Youth corps like Liberia’s are central to the Big Push needed to address the “perfect storm” of challenges threatening progress toward malaria elimination in Africa. These corps bring fresh energy to advocacy efforts, community engagement, and the promotion of preventive measures like the use of insecticide-treated nets to combat one of Africa’s greatest health burdens. In Liberia, for example, malaria is one of the major public health challenges, with the entire population at risk. Malaria remains the leading cause of inpatient deaths and outpatient visits and has a 10% prevalence rate among children under five.