3-Year Partnership Agreement Sign To Support Climate Change Adaptation And Disaster Risk Reduction
Monrovia- The Embassy of Sweden and the Swedish Red Cross have signed a three-year Development Cooperation Agreement focusing on building resilience, promoting climate change adaptation, and strengthening local capacity for disaster risk reduction in Liberia, the Liberian National Red Cross Society says.
Under the agreement, the Embassy will provide funding support through the Swedish Red Cross for the Liberian Red Cross to implement “The Green, Inclusive and Resilient Liberian Communities (GIRL) Project” beginning January 2023 to December 2025 to reduce the risk of disasters by increasing community resilience to climate change.
The collaboration is focusing on building local capacities in the areas of Health and Disaster Risks Reduction in 12 communities in Sinoe, River Gee, and Grand Kru counties.
The Liberian Red Cross will not only support communities to adapt to climate change and reduce disaster risks but strengthen the capacities of most vulnerable people including women and children to adapt their lives to a changing climate and environment and become more resilient to disaster risk and agents for sustainable development.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Head of Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Sweden Johan Romare said he was happy with the signing of the agreement which will enhance local capacity and build resilience in addressing the effect of climate change.
“Sweden is proud to support Liberian change-makers and we look forward to seeing many agents for sustainable development coming out of Sinoe, River Gee and Grand Kru”.
“We want a clear partnership with the Liberian Red Cross taking the lead,” Mr. Romare said, adding that “We are proud of the localization in building community resilience in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction”.
The Head of Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Sweden further emphasized that a strong Liberian Red Cross is very vital in helping Liberians to adapt to climate change, emphasizing that “It is Liberians who can create Liberia they want to see”.
He added: “Our hope is that the intervention will increase communities’ ability to adapt their lives to a changing climate and environment”.
The GIRL project is the second in a row for the Liberian Red Cross through the Swedish Red Cross to receive support from the Embassy of Sweden. The first project focusing on “Building a Sustainable LNRCS for Community Resilience” started in 2019 and ended in December 2022.
The BSCCR increasingly strengthened the LNRCS’s capacity to effectively promote and deliver quality services in addressing local needs in the most vulnerable communities by community volunteers.
Capitalizing on the lessons learned from the first project, the new intervention builds on the community action plans to improve the integration of community-based solutions and disaster risk reduction efforts for community resilience to climate change.
The embassy considers the signing of the new agreement with the SRC as a milestone development, and a continued opportunity for the Liberian Red Cross to deliver quality services, noting that a lot was achieved during the first phase with the Liberian Red Cross who will now take the lead in the second phase implementation.
The Swedish Red Cross as a member of the Red Cross Movement started working with the Liberian Red Cross back in 2003. The Swedish Red Cross Programme Manager Ignacio Garcia Collantes said the SRC is not only providing technical support but enhancing the LNRCS’s capacity in delivering quality services and building community resilience. Mr. Garcia Collantes has thanked the embassy for its continued support and collaboration in addressing local needs in Liberia through the Liberian Red Cross. He said the signing of the partnership agreement is the beginning of a new phase and a new collaboration on activity aligning with the national agenda and fostering the position of the Red Cross Movement.
The Liberian Red Cross Secretary General Gregory T. Blamoh in a remark at the signing of the new project agreement acknowledged the support and the confidence of the partners in the Liberian Red Cross. “Today, we are rewriting our story.
Although we have not reached the limit, there are great prospects and we hope that this support will take us further and deliver better”, Mr. Blamoh added.
He assured the partners that the Liberian Red Cross is moving beyond today and doing things differently. “We are determined in going forward and we are happy for the level of confidence reposed in us”, adding that the LNRCS is not only committed to the quality of its programming but remains focused on the quality of services it delivers to the community to support recovery and build resilience.