Government of Liberia and Embassy of Sweden to Sign USD$5 million dollar agreement toward Decentralization
Photo Credit: MIA
Monrovia-December 8, 2015: The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will on Wednesday, December 9 jointly sign a contribution agreement of US$5 million dollars with the Government of Sweden.
The Agreement targets decentralization, which is central to governance reforms, peace building and reconciliation, as well as poverty reduction programs in Liberia.
During the signing ceremony, which will take place at the Ministry of Internal Affairs at 11:00am, the Acting Minister of Internal Affairs Varney A. Sirleaf in his capacity as the Chairperson of the LDSP Board will sign on behalf of the Government of Liberia, with support by the Co-Chairpersons, Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Amara Konneh and the Chair of the Governance Commission, Dr. Amos Sawyer while the Swedish Ambassador to Liberia, Her Excellency Lena Nordstrom will sign the agreement on behalf of her government.
The contribution from the Swedish government is part of the USD$18 million five year Liberia Decentralization Support Programme (LDSP) funded by other development partners, including the European Union (EU), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Government of Liberia, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The LDSP supports the implementation of the decentralized policy of Liberia to promote participatory local governance and an improved system of service delivery that is more localized and responsive to the needs and aspirations of all citizens.
As a successor to the Liberia Decentralization and Local Development (LDLD) project, the LDS Program also seeks to support the decentralization of political, administrative and fiscal governance in Liberia, by ensuring responsive and capable and accountable local governments, developing and strengthening local level planning, monitoring and management capacity.
Additionally, the Program will endeavor to provide access to national and local resources through fiscal decentralization, accelerating effective and efficient service delivery and poverty alleviation as well as increasing equitable distribution of the nation’s resources, so as to ensure a more holistic process of development and democratic governance.
The Liberia Decentralization Support Program (LDSP) is fully aligned with Liberia’s National Policy on Decentralization and Local Governance and the Liberia Decentralization Implementation Plan (LDIP).