MONROVIA – An attempt to move young Liberians from the streets to the negotiating table is testing a new model of civic engagement. The Federation of Liberian Youth wants to convert protest energy into structured partnership with government. Its planned National Youth-Government Dialogue reflects a bet that trust can be rebuilt through sustained conversation. At issue is whether officials will treat young people as partners rather than problems to manage. The stakes are considerable in a country where most citizens are under the age of thirty-five. A credible dialogue could reshape youth politics, while an empty one would deepen cynicism. The initiative’s value will rest on whether talk actually yields real solutions, as THE ANALYST’s GEORGE FLOMO reports.
The Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY) has announced plans to launch a National Youth-Government Dialogue aimed at rebuilding trust between young Liberians and public institutions while creating a structured platform for direct engagement on national development issues.
FLY President Ernest Duku Jallah made the announcement Tuesday during the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing in Monrovia, describing the initiative as a deliberate effort to move youth-government relations beyond confrontation, complaints and occasional engagement during elections or national crises.
The initiative will officially be launched on International Youth Day under the theme, “Closing the Gap and Building Trust Between Young People and Government.” According to Jallah, the dialogue is intended to provide young Liberians with a consistent opportunity to engage government officials, ask questions, identify weaknesses in public programs and propose practical solutions to challenges affecting the country’s youthful population.
He said FLY wants to challenge the longstanding perception of young people as primarily protesters, opposition voices or potential sources of unrest.
Jallah argued instead that Liberia’s youth should be recognized as important partners in national development. He said the organization wants to reshape how young people are viewed in public life.
“We’ve been seen as violent opposition,” Jallah said, stressing that FLY wants young Liberians to increasingly be seen as “solutions makers.”
FROM COMPLAINTS TO CONVERSATIONS
Jallah said the new initiative represents a shift in the way young people engage government, emphasizing that the objective is to move from complaints to meaningful conversations and, ultimately, concrete solutions.
He framed the dialogue as a structured alternative to sporadic and often adversarial engagement.
“We’re moving from complaints to conversations and to ensure that these conversations lead to solutions,” he said.
He argued that young people constitute a significant portion of Liberia’s population and, as a result, should have a permanent voice in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of policies and programs affecting their lives.
Citing the 2022 National Population and Housing Census, Jallah said approximately 76.4 percent of Liberia’s population is under the age of 35.
With young people representing such a substantial demographic segment, he said, they should not be treated merely as beneficiaries of government programs but should help determine what those programs look like and whether they are achieving their objectives.
Jallah said the dialogue will therefore create space for young people to share their experiences directly with government officials, identify gaps in public service delivery and offer proposals for addressing those challenges.
He emphasized that the initiative is not intended to become another gathering where participants make speeches, take photographs and leave without any meaningful outcome. Instead, FLY wants the dialogue to produce substantive exchanges between young people and government representatives, particularly on issues such as education and other sectors that directly affect the country’s youth.
YOUTH EXPECTED TO BRING SOLUTIONS
While calling on government institutions to listen to young people, Jallah also challenged young Liberians to approach the dialogue with a constructive and solution-oriented mindset.
He said participants would not be encouraged to attend simply to make demands or criticize government, but to come prepared with ideas, proposals and practical solutions. “We tell them that you come into the program because you are interested in solutions,” Jallah said.
The approach, he explained, is designed to create a two-way conversation in which young people can articulate their concerns while government officials have an opportunity to explain existing programs, acknowledge gaps and explore ways to improve service delivery.
Jallah believes such direct engagement can help reduce mistrust between young people and government while creating a more productive relationship between citizens and public institutions. He described that shift in relationship as central to the initiative’s purpose.
YOUNG OFFICIALS TO TAKE PART
For the inaugural edition of the dialogue, FLY has invited Mrs. Joseta Neufville-Wento, Manager of the National Road Fund of Liberia, whom Jallah described as one of the youngest public officials appointed by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
He said the participation of young officials is particularly important because it can help bridge the gap between young citizens and policymakers. According to Jallah, young Liberians will have the opportunity to hear directly from officials about public policies, while officials will equally hear firsthand the experiences, concerns and expectations of young people.
The inaugural event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Monrovia City Hall and is expected to bring together young people and members of the media.
Jallah said FLY does not want the initiative to end with the inaugural event. Instead, the youth organization is calling for collaboration with the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to transform the dialogue into a sustained national program that would allow young Liberians across the country to regularly engage government institutions.
A PUSH FOR NATIONAL PROGRAM
Jallah said FLY envisions a permanent mechanism through which young people can identify national problems, engage policymakers and work with public institutions to develop practical responses.
“This FLY program has to be a national program,” he emphasized. Institutionalizing the initiative, he said, would create a permanent space where young people and government representatives can sit together, understand the challenges confronting Liberia and collectively pursue solutions.
He said the broader objective is not simply to give young people a platform to speak, but to establish a culture of continuous dialogue, mutual accountability and partnership between the government and the country’s youthful population.
For FLY, the initiative marks an attempt to redefine youth participation in Liberia’s governance, moving from periodic protest and criticism to sustained engagement in policy discussions and national problem-solving. Jallah framed that transformation as the ultimate measure of the dialogue’s success.