Casablanca, Morocco - First lady Clar Marie Weah is commending the government and people o the Kingdom of Morocco for the numerous educational opportunities, especially in the areas of academic and technical, and vocational training programs, which many Liberians continue to benefit.

Mrs. Weah said Liberia remains deeply grateful and committed to further solidifying the already flourishing bilateral ties between the two countries and peoples.

The Liberian First Lady was speaking on Thursday, June 2, 2022, when she met with Madam Loubna Tricha, Director General of the Moroccan Office for the Promotion of Training (technical, vocational education, and training) in Casablanca.

Mrs. Weah also expressed the need for Madam Tricha and her team to consider buttressing the Liberian government’s efforts in improving technical and vocational training facilities in the country through exchange programs among others.

According to a dispatch from the Moroccan Capital, Casablanca, Mrs. Weah proffered that such interventions would significantly address the huge capacity gap among the young, resulting in high unemployment and vulnerability to drug abuse and indecent lifestyle among young people.

The passion to buttress President George Manneh Weah and his government’s efforts in addressing the situation, Mrs. Weah explained, inspired the establishment of Clar Hope Foundation, CHF.

As a non-political and non-for-profit charity institution, CHF was founded in June 2018 with the objective of creating an equitable society in Liberia where women and children (in particular), are healthy, educated, and fully empowered to lead a prosperous life.

The Liberian Mother of the Nation pointed out the multi-complex City of Hope project in Marshall, Margibi County, the Home of the Elderly in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County among others as major initiatives of CHF, aimed at transforming young and old alike for a better and brighter future.

Mrs. Weah also used the occasion of her brief interaction with Madam Tricha and her team to extend an official invite for the Director-General of Office for the Promotion of Training to visit Liberia at the soonest possible time.

For her part, Madam Tricha thanked First Lady Weah for reaching out to her office and for extolling the cordial ties between their two countries and peoples.

The Moroccan senior official, who wholeheartedly accepted the invitation to visit Liberia, reaffirmed her government’s commitment to various partnerships between Liberia and the Kingdom of Morocco.

Madam Tricha’s office is the arm of the Moroccan government responsible for technical and vocational education and training of the country’s youthful population, a major partner of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation for Training of Youths from Africa and the world.

It was established in 1974 to satisfy the needs of qualified human resources for the benefit of economic operators and thus contribute to improving their competitiveness and ensuring employee development to support business development among other objectives.

The Liberian First Lady’s visit to Morocco leverages a number of fruitful engagements between the two governments, culminating in agreements at various levels since they established diplomatic relations in the 1960s.

The first session of Liberia – Morocco Joint Commission of Cooperation convened in Monrovia, leading to the signing of several framework cooperation agreements in April 2011.

Prior to that, In March 2019, the second session of the Liberia-Morocco Joint Commission of Cooperation was held in Marrakesh, during which several agreements were also signed.

These agreements include the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion, investment protection, and promotion, and visa exemption for bearers of diplomatic, official, and service/special passports.

It can also be recalled that in November 2020, Liberia and Morocco signed three agreements of cooperation in the areas of health, education, and agriculture under the leadership of Foreign Minister Kemayah.

This was followed by Foreign Minister Dee Maxwell Saah Kemayah’s official visit to Morocco in June 2021, where the two countries the roadmap agreement of technical cooperation in the areas of health, education and agriculture/fishery, economic development.