Liberia: U.S. & Liberia Sign U.S.$124 Million MOU

The Government of the Republic of Liberia, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of the United States of America, Department of State, aimed at strengthening Liberia's health system, disease surveillance, outbreak response capacity, and frontline health workforce.

The MoU makes Liberia the first in West Africa and 3rd country in Africa, after Kenya and Rwanda, to sign such a landmark agreement and partnership.

The MOU was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, H.E. Sara Beysolow Nyanti, and U.S. State Department's Jeremy P. Lewin, Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom in Washington, DC. The U.S. State Department now serves as the agency responsible for implementing all foreign assistance, including humanitarian aid and the promotion of economic development.

In remarks delivered at the signing ceremony, Mr. Lewin stated that this government-to-government engagement is a symbol of the deepening of bilateral relations between the United States and Liberia, the first country in West Africa to sign this category of health cooperation MOU, demonstrating the nation's commitment to health security, innovation in disease response, and long-term systems resilience.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mme. Sara Beysolow Nyanti, expressed Liberia's gratitude: "On behalf of His Excellency President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., and the people of Liberia, we extend deep appreciation to the Government and people of the United States for this historic partnership. We particularly recognize the technical support of the Minister of Health, Dr. Louise Kpoto, and her team, who worked tediously on the fine details of the MOU."

The five-year partnership outlines a substantial investment toward improving public health outcomes in Liberia and provides a total of US $124,418,400 in planned U.S. Government support over 5 years to support expanded disease surveillance and rapid outbreak response, strengthening national and regional laboratory systems, supply chain modernization for medicines and essential health commodities, deployment and upscaling of frontline healthcare workers nationwide, development of integrated digital health information systems and strategic investments in maternal, child, and infectious disease services.

Read the original article on New Dawn.