– says Deputy Secretary General
By William Selmah wselmah@gmail.com
The United Nations has reaffirmed its commitment to future peace building and development programs for Liberia.
The UN Deputy Secretary General Amina J. Mohammed said the world body will do so through a smooth transition towards sustainable development.
The United Nations Country Team will take over from UNMIL, under the leadership of a strengthened Resident Coordinator.
The Deputy Secretary General was addressing a Peace Commission meeting on Liberia during the week in New York.
“The strengthened Resident Coordinator’s Office will be essential to ensuring that the UN is well positioned to support the Government in realizing the 2030 Agenda, as well as maintaining the UN’s good offices role,” she told those attending the meeting including Liberia’s Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah and Ambassador to the UN Lewis Browne.
Mohammed further explained that the Resident Coordinator’s office will also work on building partnerships with political and civil society networks, and with senior officials in government and the international community.
At the New York meeting on Liberia, the UN Deputy Secretary General pleaded for international support for Liberia. She also said that the Resident Coordinator’s Office and the UN Country Team will combine a focus on sustainable development with the continuation of their work on prevention.
The two offices, she noted, will also support the government in the formulation and implementation of the new National Development Plan.
” The Deputy Secretary-General has set reforms in process so that the United Nations can offer more integrated, comprehensive, strategic and coherent support to countries like Liberia”, said Mohammed, adding, “these reforms, together with the repositioning of the UN development system, are firmly anchored in the respect for national priorities, national sovereignty, leadership and ownership”.
One of the principal funding mechanisms for the UN’s engagement with Liberia, according to her, will be the Liberia Multi-Partner Trust Fund.
“This will be a country-level, Government co-chaired, pooled fund, aimed at reducing the fragmentation and duplication of development assistance to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and through that, sustain peace, she explained.
Earlier, the Deputy Secretary General praised the people of Liberia for she refers to as “the remarkable peace gains of the past 14 years, the recent peaceful elections and the smooth transfer of power”.
She also lauded President George Weah for signaling renewed focus and commitment to inclusive and sustainable development and to addressing the root causes of conflict. “The United Nations stands ready to support President Weah and his government through this transition”, Mohammed noted.
The UN Deputy Secretary General is at the same time calling on the development partners to step up thie support in order to the Liberian people attain their aspirations for the future.
She wants this kind of support to remain a priority for the international community.
The extended mandate of UNMIL which intervened to end civil war in Liberia in 2003, finally ends on 30 March 2018, while the withdrawal of all uniformed and civilian personnel other than those required to complete the mission’s liquidation, will be concluded by 30 April 2018.