GoL, EU portfolio review to enhance stronger partnership and results

A two-day portfolio review on the European Union initiatives in Liberia got underway Wednesday March 31 in Monrovia.

The event which runs to April 1, 2021, is intended to enhance stronger partnership between the government of Liberia and the European Union in promoting projects of high impacts and results as a way of supporting the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development.

 It is also part of efforts to improve aid transparency and effectiveness through enhanced collaboration and decision making processes.

 Finance and Development Planning Minister Hon. Samuel D. Tweah Jr., in remarks, thanked the EU for supporting the government development initiative.

Hon. Tweah said the government's greatest priority is to provide opportunities where citizens are realizing their dream in broader areas including education, agriculture, roads, and health.

He expressed the need for the government and partners to learn lessons from project implementation in the last 5-10 years, by documenting constraints and challenges while at the same time tracking results.

 According to Hon. Tweah, government and partners are transitioning to a new face that requires stronger coordination and better programming.

 He told stakeholders that it is the government's responsibility to deliver for the people, adding that the government job is also to build capacities when it is observed that capacities are not optimal.

 For his part, European Union Head of Delegation to Liberia, Amb. Laurent Delahousse said the portfolio review is about commitment and support to deliver to the people of Liberia.

 “We are also helping the government to deliver to the people of Liberia. We are also here to support the government, address the needs of the people of Liberia and contribute to the development of Liberia’’ Amb. Delahousse added.

 He stated that the support that EU brings is strictly to the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) which is the policy of the development plan of Liberia.

 The EU, he said, cannot implement any project without the intervention of the government, so it was important for a framework on regulation and accountability to be developed, because the EU has to account to European taxpayers on every cent spent in Liberia.

 Also, Agriculture Minister Jennie Cooper challenged stakeholders in the agriculture sector to do more in terms of coordination for visible impact.

“When we visit most of these places, we want to see tangible or visible impacts of these projects” She said.