UNCDF, UNDP and Government of Liberia Launch New National Decentralization and Local Development Programme
Liberian Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs Toga McIntosh with UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Jordan Ryan signing the project document.
Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Jordan Ryan shakes hands with Liberian Internal Affairs Minister Ambulai Johnson after the signing of the project document.
Monrovia, Liberia - 7 June 2007: In response to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's call to bring government closer to the people through a participatory process, a project agreement for the establishment of the Liberian National Decentralization and Local Development Programme (LDLD) has been signed between the government of Liberia, the UN Capital Development Fund and the United Nations Development Programme. The Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs Toga McIntosh signed for the government while the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Jordan Ryan signed on behalf of UNDP.
The programme is expected to strengthen the capacity of the government of Liberia through the Ministry of Internal Affairs by providing the necessary leadership and coordination that builds a system of participatory local governance and its relevant local government institutions throughout Liberia. The national programme will cover the 15 counties but will pilot a local development programme, initially based in 3 counties and shall install a county and district financing facility, intended to demonstrate the full circle of public expenditure management. UNDP and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) have committed $5 million dollars over a five-year period to support the project.
According to Mr. Jordan Ryan the project is "ambitious," and aims to help Liberia think through its decentralization policy and the legal framework it needs to accompany decentralization. "It will elaborate on procedures, processes and systems so that local authorities will be able to better manage their own financial and public expenditure that needs to take place in county districts," he said.
The project will cover four strategic areas of focus to include policy and strategy development, system and institutional development, sector investments for local development and effective program management. The government of Liberia will take the lead in championing the project and ensuring that the national legislature adopts the necessary laws that will make decentralization and local development a reality with specific efforts toward the adoption of a National Decentralization Policy and a reform of existing local government laws and local regulatory frameworks.
The Ministry of Internal Affair in collaboration with the Governance Reform Commission will spearhead the implementation of the project while UNDP will monitor the effective management and coordinate with other UN agencies in the counties. UNCDF will provide technical support and invest resources for the effective operation of the project.
Internal Affairs Minister Ambulai Johnson said taking government to the people "is very demonstrative of the president's desire to make sure that everyone participates in the development process." In subsequent months, he said the government will take actions that will be supportive of this initiative and to create a national inclusion in the governing process.
Go to: UNCDF in Liberia
