Hon. Tanneh Brunson, Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning

Mr. Antony Akumu Abogi, on behalf of the UN Resident Coordinator

His Excellency Urban Sjöström Ambassador of Sweden embassy in Liberia

Mr. Johan Romare, Head of Development Cooperation Swedish embassy in Liberia

Development partners present

UN colleagues

The media

Ladies and gentlemen

Greetings,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this Official Ceremony of the Signing of an Agreement between the SIDA (Embassy of Sweden) and the UNDP to solidify our accompaniment support to national development planning in Liberia.  We thank the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning for entrusting us with the fund management role for the envisaged support from Sweden through this Agreement.  This signing marks another milestone in the relationship between UNDP and Sweden, building on the other partnerships that we have forged over the years.  For us, this demonstrates our commitment to co-creating and delivering sustainable development in Liberia.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Allow me to express our deep gratitude to my dear friend, Mr. Johan Romare, and his team for the cordial working relations over the past years. I salute H.E. the Ambassador of Sweden for his unwavering support to Liberia and for making UNDP a partner of choice in delivering strategic initiatives such as the Elections, Forestry Governance, Gender Empowerment, and Development Planning Capacity strengthening, just to mention a few.  The confidence reposed in the UNDP by the Government cannot be overemphasized, as it goes a long way in helping us advocate for and mobilize development resources for the people of Liberia.

I congratulate the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning for embarking on this auspicious journey aiming to unveil a national development plan along with 15 subnational plans before the next budget year, and galvanizing our collective contributions to achieving it, through a clear roadmap being implemented, and for the leadership at the highest level of government wherein the President of Liberia, during the cabinet Retreat amplified government’s commitment to co-create a NDP for sustainable and Inclusive development, anchored on the ARREST Agenda and informed by consultations and the study on the drivers of sustainable and inclusive development.  As a testament to this commitment, Stakeholders' Orientation on the NDP is ongoing in Ganta, as we sign this agreement to support the NDP.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The signing of this agreement today for the provision of additional resources to advance the NDP process has become imperative given the urgent need for national and subnational consultations with Liberians within the context of post-transition polarization.  Concerned about the need for inclusive participation, leaving no one behind, we are delighted that the proceed from this agreement garners additional capacities, to ensure that such a national plan evolves from an inclusive consultation process, is aligned with the SDGs and Africa 2063, ensures, and guarantees human rights, gender and disability inclusion, and leaves no one behind.   UNDP believes that for the NDP to be a reflection of the aspirations of the people of Liberia and be an enabler of SDGs transformation to rescue the SDGs for the remaining years till 2030, it is imperative to ensure broad-based consultations and that the new plan is informed by the potential catalytic and multiplier effects across the six SDGs transition actions. These include (1) food systems; (2) energy access and affordability; (3) digital connectivity; (4) education; (5) jobs and social protection; and (6) climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Additionally, building our decentralization successes, the localization of the national planning process is crucial, necessitating urgent financial technical accompaniment support, toward the production of a series of subnational plans (the County Development Agendas), informed by consultations across the country to give impetus to national decentralization efforts and ensure SDGs transformation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

With an ambitious timeline of October 2024 for the unveiling of the NDP, in preparation for the new national budget for 2025, there is a growing sense of urgency and anxiety to provide the necessary accompaniment support to the NDP/CDA process in Liberia. The need therefore for strategic partnership with other development actors arose, evidenced by the signing ceremony today, to ensure support to the process is expeditiously provided.   

I am therefore proud to say that SIDA and UNDP are signing an agreement today to channel 4,000,000 SEK from the Government of Sweden, through UNDP to the Government of Liberia to support the expeditious production of a more inclusive national plan.    UNDP will leverage its SDGs integrator role to provide managerial, technical, and financial support to the NDP building on its past support for SDGs-aligned National Development Planning.  I am optimistic that this contribution will bolster national capacity to achieve the following important aspects the NDP process:  encompassing capacity for development planning and coordination, consultations, technical meetings, validation, and launch of the plan. 

This agreement complements ongoing collaborative engagements with the Government and the UN in which the UNDP is playing a pivotal role in ensuring a timely co-creation and production of the national plan before the next national budget, considering the limited fiscal space.  

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as we sign this agreement today, allow me to express our appreciation and share some reflections on the partnership with Sweden, and how these are helping to shape the volume, quality, and impact of our support to the Government in other two important areas as forest governance and electoral systems strengthening and decentralization. The support to the Community-Based Forestry and Protected Area Management (CBFM) aimed at Boosting Biodiversity Conservation and Improving Livelihoods of Forest-Fringe/Forest-Dependent Communities and Groups in Liberia is another testament to the valued partnership of the United Nations and the SIDA/Embassy of Sweden. Some of the early gains from the partnership on forest governance include:

• 20 forest fringe communities are being supported to improve their governance structures. Seven applicant communities have moved a minimum of three steps along the nine-step process
• Communities have gained momentum to embrace conservation which is reflected in their effort to update community forestry management plans and adoption of livelihood interventions as opposed to unsustainable forestry utilization.
• The forestry Sector has been supported to fight corruption by developing the anti-corruption reporting platform which will be launched in the next few months.     
• FDA was boosted with equipment that has increased their response time in some forest parks
• At least 500 farmers 48% being women are hopeful to harvest benefits from Cocoa and rice

In closing, I am happy to say that Sweden’s contribution is helping to provide critical incentives for enlisting the cooperation and contribution of forest communities to national conservation efforts. This would not have been possible without the leadership of the government.  In this respect, I wish to recognize the Forestry Development Authority for its cooperation and support in developing and implementing the Community-Based Forestry and Protected Area Management project

 I would like to also thank the Embassy of Sweden for its financial support which is helping the Government of Liberia achieve goal 13 of the SDGs as well as several targets within the Nationally Determined Contributions

Let me emphasize and pledge UNDP commitment to improving forest governance, as it stands ready to continue to partner with the Embassy of Sweden in supporting sustainable forest management in Liberia

Other supports in the sphere of governance and electoral reforms are self-revealing, evidenced by the successful and peaceful democratic electoral outcome and transition that we all have celebrated in Liberia. We remain grateful to the people of Sweden for their generosity and goodwill and look forward to continuing our partnership with SIDA to support Liberia’s transition to a sustainable development path, more inclusively.  We will continue to work with the Governments of Liberia and Sweden in achieving shared prosperity, building resilience, reducing poverty, and promoting inclusive and sustainable development. 

I thank you for your kind attention.