—-Ambassador Delahousse Discloses; ends EU-Liberia Country portfolio performance review
The European Union Ambassador to Liberia, Laurent Delahousse says that EU will remain committed to supporting Liberia in its development efforts.
He said the EU is here to contribute towards Liberia’s developmental agenda mainly in line with the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD).
Ambassador Delahousse made these remarks recently on at the opening of a two-day EU-Liberia Country portfolio performance review in Monrovia.
The EU portfolio review seeks to create a policy dialogue that is part of efforts to improve aid transparency and effectiveness through government’s decision-making.
They also review the portfolio of the European Union funded projects by identifying challenges, lessons learned, and make recommendations for improvement in the implementation for future EU funded projects.
“We do not do it out of the blue sky, but in the framework of regulation of accountability,” Ambassador Delahousse, emphasized.
“In this regard, there are things you can do and there are things you can’t do because we, too, have to account for the taxpayers’ money especially the people of the European Union Countries and many others,” the EU diplomat noted.
According to him, EU delegation is in Liberia to help the government to deliver and to as well address the needs of the people of Liberia.
He said over the next six years ranging from 2021-2027, they are working on their next line of projects in an EU team’s work approach, pointing out that whatever they do is not for themselves but rather for the people of Liberia.
For his part, Finance and Development Planning Minister, Samuel D. Tweah, has underscored the need for cabinet ministers mainly those in the European Union portfolio performance platform to work hard in ensuring that they improve portfolio delivery.
Minister Tweah challenged officials of government and staff to have a proactive approach in addressing key issues of national concern in the interest of the people of Liberia.
“We should see our own challenge, write about them and find a way to solve them through our development partners”, he added.
He said gone are the days where partners will be demanding and or complaining relevant government ministries and agencies on how to spend their own monies on them instead of the government complaining the partners on making available funds intended to implement development projects for the people.
Minister Tweah made a reference to the Central Bank of Liberia’s delay on debt issue in which he had to make a personal phone call to the World Bank before said issue was addressed, even though the deadline has expired, stressing further that similar thing happens across all sectors of the country and government, pushing for more creative ways to shorting time in fulfilling their respective deliveries.
Appreciating the European Union for its continued support to Liberia, he reminded his colleagues that a development partner like EU wants results and it is incumbent upon them to work together as a government through accountability in order to solve problems of the people.
According to him, the two-day portfolio review is a practical manifestation of the energy the EU brings to help Liberia.
He pointed out that Liberia is under obligation to account for the European Union taxpayers’ money through the delivery of what they do.
“Lots of things are working, but at the same time some things are not working; there are multiple challenges and we need to get on the drawing board to strategize why they are not working and what needs to be done for them to work”, he added.
The Finance Minister stated that the greatest priority of any Government is to enhance the service of the people, thereby providing the citizens the opportunity to realize their dreams in broad areas and sectors of the country.
He reminded his colleagues that they are under obligation to deliver to their people.
Tweah emphasized that government plans and mechanism have to move to the next level in the next three years of the current administration, stressing that practical beginning is now key.
Meanwhile, the dialogue which took place in Monrovia from March 31 to April 1, 2021, was attended by stakeholders, partners and the Government of Liberia to agree on the right balance between the implementation of short and long-term services. It also seeks to build the capacity of institution to work on upgrading the sustainability in project management.
