THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JULY 6, 2015

News of a high-power Dutch trade delegation visit to Liberia, the launch of the call for proposals on free movement and migration in West Africa and the installation of temperature scanners at the Roberts International airport are among stories dominating today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies.

DOMINANT STORIES

High-Power Dutch Trade Delegation To Visit Liberia

The Inquirernewspaper reports that: A high-power Dutch trade delegation is expected in the country on Monday July 6, 2015. The Dutch trade delegation which will be led by Hon. Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is visiting Liberia to explore possible trade and investment opportunities in the country.  While in Monrovia, Minister Ploumen is expected to sign the Presidential Guest Book and thereafter meet with Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan for a round table on Economic Growth and Private Sector Development at the Foreign Ministry. The visiting Dutch delegation will also hold discussions with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and other senior government officials including the Ministers of Commerce and Industry, Gender, Children and Social Protection, Public Works, Health and Social Welfare, Agriculture, Transport, National Investment Commission, among others. The delegation will also hold discussions with Liberian business executives, multinational companies, NGOs and Dutch companies doing business in Liberia. According to a Foreign Ministry release, the Netherlands Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister, Lilianne Ploumen, and Liberia Commerce and Industry Minister, Axel Addy, will hold a press stakeout in the foyer of the Foreign Ministry on Monday At 12:30 noon. The Dutch delegation is visiting Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries worst hit by the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The trade delegation’s visit to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea beginning July 6-9, 2015 aims to strengthen bilateral relations with the three Ebola affected West African countries, to exchange knowledge and promote trade.

Related Captions: High-Power Dutch Trade Delegation Visits Liberia(INSIGHT), Dutch Trade Delegation  Hosts Industry Fair(The News), New World Bank Country Director For Ghana, Liberia And Sierra Leone (Heritage)

ECOWAS Commission, Partners Launch Free Movement In W. Africa Proposals Invited on Free Movement and Migration

According to the Daily Observer, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission will partner with the Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU) to study and document the dynamics of free movement and migration in the ECOWAS region and Mauritania. A dispatch from the Liberian Embassy in Abuja says the ECOWAS Commission and its partners launched a call for proposals for Non-State Actors (NSAs) on June 30, 2015 at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, Nigeria. The exercise sought to promote an active engagement of NSAs and collaborating local authorities in information and protection activities for the benefit of migrants and cross-border populations in West Africa.

Related Captions: ECOWAS Commission, Partners Launch Proposals On Free Movement And Migration(FOCUS), ECOWAS Commission, Partners Launch Proposals On Free Movement, Migration(The Inquirer), ECOWAS Calls For Proposals(The New Dawn), ECOWAS Commission and Partners Launch Call For Proposals On Free Movement And Migration(INSIGHT)

New Temperature Scanners Installed At Liberia's Main Airport

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has expressed confidence that the re-emergence of the new Ebola virus disease outbreak in lower Margibi County will be nip in the bud. “I am confident that the situation will be put under control,” she asserted. According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader made the statement at the Robert International Airport (RIA) where she had gone to inspect the three brand new electronic scanners  stalled there meant to detect elevated body temperature even if an individual is 10 meters away and numerous other physical conditions including fever. The Temperature Electronic Scanners that have been installed at both the entry and departure terminals of the airport were provided by the Government of Japan to buttress government’s efforts in containing the deadly Ebola virus. President Sirleaf told journalists that Liberia has the capability to adequately put the latest Ebola outbreak under control as evidenced by the fact that the Incident Management System immediately responded to the situation when it was reported. “Let the word go out, Liberia is containing the new outbreak as new measures and new mechanisms have been put in place,” the Liberian Chief Executive assured, pens the FrontPage Africanewspaper.

Related Captions: Liberia Gets Tough With Ebola Screening…Installs Thermo Cameras At RIA(FOCUS), To Curb Ebola: GOL Installs Electronic Scanners At RIA(INSIGHT), New Temperature Electronic Scanners Installed At RIA(The News)

Ellen Critiques US Report

The New Dawnnewspaper reports that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has reacted sharply to the United States’ 2014 human rights report against Liberia, noting that the report is based on “local media reports”. President Sirleaf has recommended to the U.S, State Department to adapt a policy of review and consultation before releasing the report to the public. “I only wish, given the likelihood that much of the comments in the report are based on local media reports; and taking into account, comments in the report on the media, that the US will adopt a policy of review and consultation before such reports are released,” she suggested. The Liberian leader spoke Friday; July 2 at the Executive Pavilion in Monrovia at events commemorating the 239th Independence Anniversary of the United States organized by American Embassy near Monrovia. According to the State Department report, most serious human rights abuses in Liberia are due to lack of justice, judicial inefficiency, corruption, lengthy pretrial detention, denial of due process, and harsh prison conditions. The report also highlighted violence against women and children, including rape and domestic violence, and child labor as some of the serious problems here. Meanwhile, President Sirleaf has commended the U.S. for the deployment of troops to help Liberia fight Ebola, the return of Peace Corps and stressed that government looks forward to the return of more Peace Corps Volunteers. She said government looks forward to the third edition of the US – Liberia Partnership Dialogue to review bilateral cooperation in five areas of post-Ebola recovery plan. 

Related Captions: Liberian President Expresses Dissatisfaction Over US Human Rights Report(FrontPage Africa),  Ellen Accepts State Department Report…With Reservation, As U.S. Turns 239(The News), EJS Lauds U.S. Assistance In Containing Ebola Outbreak  (FrontPage Africa), Pres. Sirleaf Lauds U.S. Govt. For Assistance In Containing Ebola Outbreak(The Analyst)

Boakai Says Liberia Supports Plans For Early Warning System

Vice President Joseph N. Boakai has underscored the important role of the Economic Community of West African States in maintaining peace, stability as well as improving conditions and instituting measures for the early detection and prevention of conflicts in the sub region. According to the FrontPage Africa newspaper, Vice President Boakai said Liberia has been very impressed for the role ECOWAS has played in Liberia and of recent during the outbreak of the ebola virus in the Country. Vice President Boakai made the remarks Thursday when he received a six man delegation of the Ecowas Commission who are in the country to inform the Liberian Government of the ongoing developments in the ECOWAS Early Warning Mechanism, resulting from the adoption of the system at country level by Heads of State and Government during their 45th Ordinary Session held in Accra on July 14, 2014. Vice President Boakai pointed out that conflict resolution is expensive and has caused the sub region too much money and resources and as such priority should be placed on the prevention of conflicts and the way forward is the realization of the Early Warning System for the region.

Related Caption:  Boakai Hails ECOWAS For Peace…In Liberia(The News)

OTHER STORIES

Action Plans For Child Labor

The Labor Ministry has disclosed plans to formulate a national action Plan for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor that will direct programs and policies aimed at addressing the matter and amend the existing child labor activities in the country. Making the disclosure Friday, Labor Minister Neto Leigh said in most instances, child labor is domesticated and that the labor law of the country does not cover household or the informal sector, New Democrat reports.

TRANSCO Mission Arrives In Monrovia

The FOCUS newspaper reports that a high-level mission from TRANSCO CLSG, a regional transmission company responsible for building a 1,439km of transmission line from Cote d’Ivoire to Liberia and linking Sierra Leone and Guinea is in Liberia from July 1-12 to hold crucial discussions with authorities on the technical, environmental and social safeguard issues as they relate to the effective implementation of the CLSG project in the country. According to a dispatch from the TRANSCO CLSG headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, the mission which departed Abidjan on Sunday is headed by the Project Implementation Unit Director Mr. Etienne Bailly. Accompanying him are the Engineering Coordinator, Environmental Coordinator and social Safeguard Specialist amongst others.

Mary Broh Gives Barclayville Facelift

News reaching this paper has it that a massive cleanup campaign is presently ongoing throughout the City of Barclayville in grand Kru County in preparation of the pending July 26 celebrations. According to reports, the cleanup campaign in Barclayville is being spearheaded by Madam Mary T. Broh, Director General of General Services Agency (GSA), The INFORMER reports.

Security Council Brainstorms On strategy for UNMIL’s Departure

Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Special representative of the UN Secretary General in West Africa, has disclosed that discussions are ongoing at the level of the Security council and other relevant decision making bodies of the United Nations (UN) on all exit strategy that will take due account of the realities and developments in Liberia, including the 2017 General and Presidential Elections, INSIGHT writes.

LPRC Donates To UL, Clara Town

The Management of the Liberia Petroleum Refining company (LPRC), on Friday, July 3, 2015, donated several materials to the University of Liberia and the Clara Town Community on Bushrod Island. The entity donated 10 shovels, 20 pieces of rake, 40 hand gloves, 20 rain boots and 10 cutlasses to the  Clara town Community while a universal air tropical chest freezer was donated to the Science College Department at the University of Liberia. Speaking on behalf of the LPRC Management at one of the donation sites in Clara Town the Public Relations Manager of LPRC, William Morris, said the entity decided to give the materials in order to help residents of Clara Town clean their drainages during the Rainy season so that they can live in a better health condition, In profile Daily reports.