This September, CEO of Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Madam Anyaa Vohiri, and the EPA both received honorable awards from the “Liberian CEO, Business and Leadership Awards.

Madam Vohiri had gone to the award ceremony held recently at the Monrovia City Hall and was pleasantly surprised when she and the EPA were honored with two separate awards.  The EPA was rewarded with Liberia’s “Best Regulatory Agency of the Year” Award over the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) and Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA), while Madam Vohiri was awarded the “Outstanding Public Leadership Award” for her contributions to Liberia’s progress and efficient leadership in the EPA.

We last connected with Madam Anyaa Vohiri in 2011 when she spoke at the first Liberia Environmental Sustainability Forum in Washington, D.C that year.  The Forum brought together leading scientists, environmentalists, government managers and others from the US and other countries to meet with their Liberian counterparts to discuss how to work together in assistance of Liberia, its people and its environment.  She also visited the Environmental Law class that semester, as she did again this year (photo below).  The ELP post can be found here.

Anyaa Vohiri obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Boston University and completed her Master of Arts in Asian studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1972.  She graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law in 1998 and is an Environmental Law Program Certificate recipient.

Madam Vohiri’s extensive experience in the international community and in running a major international project implementing conservation organization made her a natural candidate when appointed Executive Director of the EPA in 2010. Madam Vohiri previously helped draft most of the environmental-related laws of Liberia, including the Environment Protection Agency Act and the Environment Protection and Management Law of the Republic of Liberia.