(Monrovia, Liberia, June 19, 2025) – The Regional Risk Communication & Community Engagement (RCCE) Capacity Strengthening Workshop, held at the Cape Hotel in Monrovia, officially concluded today with a united call to action from all West African Member States that participated in the event.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Health, Mac Nagbe Nelson, Pillar Lead – RCCE – Incident Management System – National Mpox Response, thanked the Minister of Health for affording him the opportunity to represent Liberia at this regional workshop.
“The Mpox vaccine was officially launched on April 16, 2025, by the Minister of Health and the Director-General of NPHIL in Sinje, Grand Cape Mount County; thereby creating a high demand for the Mpox vaccine in Liberia. RCCE activities have been heightened to prevent the spread of the Mpox virus in Liberia. To date, we’ve recorded zero deaths. The Incident Management System on Mpox was activated at the national level on May 30, 2025,” he stated.
The Regional Director for West Africa for the Africa CDC, Dr. Kokou Alinon, made closing remarks on behalf of Africa Centers for Disease Control & Prevention by calling on member states to continue to innovate and create strategies and mechanisms to prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases; to protect the lives and livelihoods of the African population. He encouraged member states to prioritize the regional strategy 2024 to 2028, ‘Risk Communication & Community Engagement in Public Health Emergency Situations in the ECOWAS Region.’
Madame Vachel Harris Lake, Health Promotion & Social Determinants Officer at the World Health Organization – Liberia Country Office stated, “We’ve used the past three days to discuss challenges and successes in conducting risk communication and community engagement in the West African Region, and have further discussed lessons learnt and way forward for the betterment of safeguarding public health in our region. On behalf of the World Health Organization, we remain committed to continuously supporting the work of the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute of Liberia, and to maintaining a cordial working relationship with our colleagues at the West African Health Organization and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, Director-General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia, made final closing remarks.
“We hosted this workshop to strengthen capacity on Risk Communication & Community Engagement. We thank the West African leadership at the Africa CDC for choosing Liberia as the host for this year’s event. All of our member states are present. We saw strong exchanges all in the interest of West Africa. We see the lack of resources, but our strength to seek internal resources cannot be overemphasized. We did this as Africans, by ourselves. Africa has grown. Africa has resources, both human and material. We thank all member states present for coming to Liberia on behalf of the President, H.E. Joseph N. Boakai, Sr., and the Minister of Health, Dr. Louise M. Kpoto. We look forward to hosting you again.”
Accomplishments from the three days were capacity strengthening, knowledge & experience sharing, integrated & harmonized one health approach, real-time & evidence-based decision-making, improved coordination & collaboration between member states, constructive feedback, and networking among others.
The united call to action by the member states is the commitment and affirmation to continuously enhance public health readiness through Risk Communication & Community Engagement before, during, and after public health emergencies, as well as to continuously safeguard Africa’s health.