Monrovia — A delegation from the Economic Commission for Africa recently met with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to discuss continued collaboration between the two parties and launch the implementation plan for agreed programmes.
The meeting follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties last year that aims to provide technical support to the country in its quest for economic and social transformation.
Under the MoU, the ECA, working with relevant stakeholders in Liberia, will provide technical support to Liberia in developmental planning, domestication of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), statistical development and agriculture.
The ECA delegation of experts was led by Isatou Gaye of the Capacity Development Division, which is responsible for the overall supervision and support of programmes being implemented under the MoU.
President Sirleaf, who met with the ECA team at her foreign ministry office in Monrovia, said she was delighted by the presence of the ECA team which was in the country to launch the implementation of the MoU, especially as the country is prioritizing improving agricultural productivity, taking advantage of the value chain and using it as the basis for Liberia's structural transformation.
The ECA is providing technical assistance to Liberia in specific areas, including mainstreaming SDGs and Agenda 2063 in their national planning process in support of the country's agenda for transformation.
The discussions also centred on the country's development plan or agenda for transformation which should be in place by August this year.
President Sirleaf expressed hope and optimism as the teams move into the implementation phase of the MoU, adding she appreciated the ECA and the hard work it is putting in working with her government and others in Liberia to ensure the country manages to transform its economy without leaving anyone behind.
She thanked, in particular, Acting Executive Secretary Mr. Abdalla Hamdok for continuing to support the Liberian government in its developmental plans.
"We hope that your time frame would enable us to achieve this strategic realization," President Sirleaf said, as she commented on the ECA's implementation plan of the MoU and highlights of the team's findings that had been presented by Ms. Gaye.
The delegation met with various stakeholders, including Finance and Development Planning Minister, Boima Kamara, who is the focal point for the implementation of the MoU; officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Liberia's Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), among others.
"The work we are doing with Liberia in the context of the MoU will be a success in the sense that we see commitment at all sides of government and at the ECA," she said.
"We have already mobilized the international expertise required and will continue to do so. We are also working with the UN Country Team in Liberia that's already very involved in the development process in the country."
