The NEWS (Monrovia)
Jimmey C. Fahngon
21 August 2008
Monrovia — The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says despite the commendable overall economic progress Liberia has made, it remains among the lowest in the world in key social indicators thus posing a potential risk to a delicate peace building process.
He said it is estimated that more than 60 percent of the population continue to live below the national poverty line especially in rural areas.
The UN Secretary General made the assertion recently in his seventeenth progress report of the United Nations Mission in Liberia to the Security Council in New York.
He said it would be important to improve these numbers not only to alleviate the hardship for the poorest segments of society, but also to counter a potential risk to the fragile peace building process.
The UN Chief Scribe suggested that one key element would be to increase agricultural production since it can create employment and income opportunities for a large part of the Liberian population.
According to him, the rising food prices globally provide an enhanced incentive in this respect.
He added that it is also essential to create conducive environment for the private sector including the establishment of the necessary legal frameworks and implementation of vigorous anti-corruption measures.
The UN Secretary General however acknowledged that the wider policy framework for promoting sustained growth and development in Liberia is set out in the national Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) for 2008 to 2011.
In the PRS, he said it is emphasized that future stability, growth and development are dependent on progress within all four priority pillars including consolidating peace and security, revitalizing the economy, strengthening governance and the rule of law as well as rehabilitating infrastructure and delivering basic services.
He revealed that at the PRS forum in Berlin, Germany, it was recognized that significant financing gaps remain including essential activities related to the development of the national security and the rule of law institutions and that international partners needed to better align with the priorities of the strategy.
Mr. Ban further stated "it was noted that although progress has been made, significant domestic and regional challenges still risk undermining Liberia's hard-won peace and stability."
The UN boss said the struggle with the rule of law and competition over natural resources threatens Liberia's fragile stability despite its economy showing significant improvement.
He said much still needs to be done urgently to strengthen the capacities of the police and the army as well as facilitating their effective presence in the country.
The UN Secretary General pointed out that the delay in the reinforcement of the national police and the establishment of an Emergency Response Unit is making it difficult for UNMIL police unit in Monrovia to reduce its tasks and redeploy to other 'hotspots' around the country.
To this, he proposed expanding the size of the UNMIL police units from 605 to 845 officers and called on Liberia's international partners to urgently provide assistance in building a national police force.
The UN boss assured that UNMIL would continue to discharge its mandate of maintaining a stable and secured environment and providing the necessary security umbrella throughout the country to enable the government continue its reform and restructuring programs.
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