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Spotlight: new member YOCADS

  • post Type / Young Humanists International
  • Date / 10 October 2005

The Youth for Community Academic and Development Services (YOCADS) has been accepted as full member to IHEYO this year.

YOCADS is eager to make humanism more known in Liberia. They want to educate Liberian youth especially in the areas of social justice, their rights as individuals, on civil liberty and to defend freedom of religion and non-belief. Alphonso K. Weah, director: “we realize that there is a huge need to carrying out humanist programs aiming at sensitizing and raising awareness, especially among the youth population”. YOCADS is a Liberian based youth organisation that was founded in 2000 by youth who saw the need to address the many impediments as a result of the 14 years civil war.

The past year two years, YOCADS has worked on an advocacy and awareness campaign on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs came about at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 when 189 head of States and Governments pledged to work together to make a better world for all by eradicating poverty and hunger, combat Hiv/Aids, malaria and other diseases, improve maternal health, reduce child mortality, achieve universal primary education, equality for men and women, clean water for everybody and protection of the environment and international agreement on fair trade with a good solution to the debts that most of the poor countries have.
 
According to YOCADS, 90 percent of Liberians, particularly youths, know nothing about the goals and which ones will hopefully be achieved by their government in 2015. For the achievement of the MDGs it is important that youth are adequately informed about the goals and how they can assist in achieving these goals. Therefore YOCADS initiated their campaign. Also YOCADS tries to reach other specific groups with the campaign, like indigenous people.

Objectives of YOCADS include:

  • develop and expose Liberian youths towards the tremendous global changes that are fast approaching so that we make things develop toward a truly human society;
  • promote and encourage respect for human rights and freedom for all without distinction of race, sex, language, culture or region;
  • further the acceptance and the application of science, reason, and critical thinking in all human activities;
  • defend democratic principles and values as a means of protecting human rights; and
  • fight Child abuse and all other forms of human degradation.

For more on the workshops and other activities carried out in this campaign and for information as to how YOCADS tries to increase humanist awareness in Liberia, you can contact them.

Alphonso K. Weah, Executive Director/YOCADS
YOCADS: e-mail yocadsorg2003(at)yahoo.com

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