Buchanan, Grand Bassa County - The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) climaxed a three - day awareness and training workshop on the National Aid and NGO Policy of Liberia and the Liberia Project Dashboard to “Enhance National Data Capacity and Coordination Mechanisms in Project Management and Results Tracking in Liberia” in the port city of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
The intent is to improve Aid Management System and Data Quality and Accessibility in Liberia, generate feedback from users of current test version on the basic features of the Dashboard including data entry, accessing data, and navigation functionalities, sensitize public users including Local and National Government, Development Partners, NGOs, CSOs, private sectors, media and the general public.
Moreover, to acquaint stakeholders with the major tenets of the National Aid and NGO Policy of Liberia, its roles in the management and coordination of external assistance vis-à-vis their respective functions of each stakeholder in ensuring the fulfillment of that role.
Making remarks at the opening session, the Assistant Minister for External Resources and Debt Management, Hon. Barcon Vah extended thanks and appreciation to the United Nations Development Program and other Development Partners for the level of support in capacity building and other key sectors over the years.
He noted that the importance of the workshop is to acquaint stakeholders with the major tenets of the national Aid and NGO policy of Liberia, its roles in the management and coordination of external assistance vis-à-vis their respective functions of each stakeholder in ensuring the fulfillment of that role.
According to him, it will also promote an in-depth discussion among stakeholders to generate feedback on their respective roles as described on the basic features of the current test version of the Liberia Project Dashboard including data entry, data access and manipulation as well as the navigation functionalities.
‘’ I am saying this because, many of us when we come to these programs, it is good for us to listen and learn what is required to achieve at the end of the training knowing the importance and objective of the program ’’ he added.
For his part, the National Program Specialist from UNDP, Hon. Sidiki A. Quisia accepts the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning commendations on the role of UNDP in terms of support to the drafting, finalization and now the implementation of the National Aid and NGO Policy.
He said UNDP appreciates the relationship between the Government of Liberia since 1977 when UNDP first arrived in Liberia. The Standard Basic Agreement (SBAA) between UNDP and the Government of Liberia clearly stipulates the different role of each party at that time’’.
This also spells out the different nature of interaction, relationship, what roles UNDP has in the development process of Liberia and what role the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning or the Government of Liberia had to support UNDP operations in Liberia.
‘’ We still stand on that and improvement has taken place over time. We also hope to see this going on for the future ’’ says Mr. Quisia.
The National Aid and the NGO Policy Development, and the recalibration of the PAPD is now charting the new course of development assistance to Liberia.
This particular policy is directing how aid inflow in Liberia should be working for the Government of Liberia and its people. So UNDP has been at the center of mobilizing resources to support different communities in Liberia. So we are happy that today, we have come to see the transitional of the Aid Management Platform to the Liberia Project Dashboard. The project dashboard which is to be unveil to us.
Moreover, UNDP is at the vanguard globally to promote Global Partnership for Development Effectiveness. This platform is committed to the Paris Declaration, Accra Agenda and Addis Ababa Actions to make Aid effective for the recipient countries.