MONROVIA – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai on Tuesday, April 8, welcomed Mr. Joshua Carter, grandson of the late former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and a high-level delegation from The Carter Center during a courtesy visit at the Executive Mansion. The visit underscored the longstanding collaboration between Liberia and the Carter Center, with particular focus on mental health and democratic development.
President Boakai praised the Carter Center’s decades of partnership, especially in promoting peace, human rights, and healthcare. He paid tribute to the enduring legacy of President Jimmy Carter, noting his global humanitarian work and its continued influence in Liberia. A central point of the discussions was the Carter Center’s trailblazing efforts to strengthen mental health services across the country.
The Liberian leader applauded the Center’s role in training mental health professionals, boosting local capacity, and helping reduce stigma associated with mental illness through community engagement. He pledged his administration’s full backing to initiatives aimed at expanding and improving mental health care nationwide, stressing its importance to national development and social stability.
Mr. Joshua Carter reaffirmed the Center’s commitment to deepening its collaboration with Liberia, commending the Boakai administration’s progress in healthcare and governance. He assured the President that the Carter Center would continue supporting efforts to advance mental health, democracy, and justice in the country.
Since launching operations in Liberia in the 1990s, the Carter Center has been instrumental in areas such as election observation, civic education, access to justice, and the fight against neglected tropical diseases. Its Mental Health Program, initiated in 2010, remains a vital component of its public health mission in Liberia, having trained hundreds of clinicians and improved access to mental health services across the country.
