THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

News of Government’s pronouncement of Liberia’s former Ambassador to the United States of America, Charles A. Minor, as 2015Independence Day Orator, the European Union’s 450 million euros pledge to Ebola-affected countries and the Ministry of Education provision of over US$ 4 million to Liberian schools are among stories dominating today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies.

DOMINANT STORIES

Amb. Charles Minor Is July 26 Orator

According to the Daily Observer, Liberia’s former Ambassador to the United States of America, Charles A. Minor, is this year’s Independence Day orator, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced. Amb. Minor is the Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals. He is the son of the late Methodist Pastor and Mrs. E.B. Minor of Greenville, Sinoe County. He served as the Human Resource and Management Development Director of the African Management Services Company (AMSCO) in The Netherlands, where he spent 10 years. The theme of this year’s Independence Day is “Celebrating Our Community as A Strong Foundation for Accelerated Development”. As part of the 168th anniversary, the Golden Image Awards and Dinner will be held at the Monrovia, City Hall on Thursday, July 16, at 6 p.m. The following day, Friday, at 4 p.m. is the Investiture Ceremony, which will be held in the C. Cecil Dennis Auditorium at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It will be followed by a reception for the honorees hosted by President Sirleaf. On Friday July 24, a Thanksgiving and Intercessory Prayer will be held by the Islamic Community and will be coordinated by the National Muslim Council of Liberia in Greenville, Sinoe. The Liberia Council of Churches will on Sunday, July 26, host a Thanksgiving and Intercessory Service in the Barclayville City Hall in Grand Kru County. The guest preacher for the Sunday service is expected to be Reverend Foday E. Karpeh, founder and president of the OASIS and senior pastor, Life Center Church.

Related Captions:  Amb. Charles Minor Is July 26 Orator(INSIGHT),  Amb. Charles Minor Is July 26 Orator(In Profile Daily), Ambassador Charles Minor Is July 26 Orator(Heritage), Minor Named Independence Day Orator(FOCUS), Amb. Charles Minor Is July 26 Orator(The Inquirer), Charles Minor Is This Year Independence Day Orator(The Daily Graphic), Amb. Charles Minor Is July 26 Orator(The New Dawn)

EU Pledges 450 Million Euros To Ebola- Affected Countries

The New Dawnnewspaper quotes a release from the European Commission as saying that the European Union (EU) has pledged approximately €450 million to support the recovery of the three countries most affected by Ebola - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The release says the pledge was announced by the EU’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid & Crisis Management and EU Ebola Coordinator, Christos Stylianides, at the International Ebola Recovery Conference taking place in New York and organized by the United Nations. The Commission says Sierra Leone will receive €171.4 million, Liberia €121 million and Guinea €148.9 million. It says another €8 million will be given to all countries affected by Ebola for multi-country projects. The support will help the countries' long term recovery, and will be spent on programs in the area of healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, education, sanitation, macro-economic stability and transport.

Related Captions: EU Pledges 450 Million Euros To Ebola Affected Countries(Heritage), EU Pledges €450M To Ebola Affected Countries(The News), EU Pledges 450M To Liberia, Others(The New Republic), EU Pledges €450m To Ebola Affected Countries(FrontPage Africa)

EU Support To W. Africa Reaches €1.1 Billion

European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, has co-signed new regional funding for cooperation with representatives of regional organizations from West Africa up to the year 2020. The Regional Indicative Program under the 11th European Development Fund amounts to a total of €1.15 billion, an European Union (EU) release has said. Commissioner Mimica commented: “Regional integration in West Africa is already bearing impressive fruits and today’s signing is the ambitious starting point for preparing new, concrete projects that will benefit the region and its countries. Having almost doubled our support from the last programming period, we will work with a wide range of partners to tackle the challenges that remain in West Africa, such as peace and security, economic integration and trade, as well as sustainable development”. The West Africa Regional Indicative Program was co-signed by President Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and President Cheikhe Hadjibou Soumaré of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The Program focuses on three areas of cooperation: Peace, security and regional Stability including support to ECOWAS in its regional peace and security mandate and funding for peace and security initiatives, including migration. It also focuses on regional economic integration and trade, to strengthen trade, the private sector and regional integration and support infrastructure. Sustainable Development of natural resources and biodiversity which cover support to resilience, food security and nutrition as well as environmental protection, biodiversity and climate change are the other areas of cooperation, reports the Daily Observer.

Related Captions: EU Support To The Region Of West Africa Reaches €1.1Billion(Heritage), EU Support To A/ Africa Reaches €1.1B(The News), EU Support To West Africa Reaches €1.1 Billion(The Inquirer)

MOE Provides Over US$4m To Liberian Schools

The Ministry of Education has deposited US$4,022,000 in the accounts of 2,500 public and community schools across Liberia to address some of the pressing basic needs of the schools. Disclosing this to the Liberia News Agency in Gbarnga Saturday, the former Coordinator of the School Grant Program (SGP) at the Ministry, Emmanuel Diabolo, said a little over US$289,000 has been deposited in the accounts of 276 schools in Bong County to help in the operation of those institutions, EVIDENCE newspaper asserts.

Related Captions: MOE Provides Over US$4m To Liberian Schools(Heritage), MOE Provides Over US$4m To Liberian Schools(The News), Education Gives US$4m To Schools(The Inquirer)

OTHER STORIES

Indians, Lebanese to Relinquish Jobs to Liberians

The Ministry of Labor has introduced new policy demanding both the Indian and Lebanese communities to limit the number of foreigners working in their employ and hire more Liberians. Labor Minister Neto Z. Lighe said the Ministry has had consultations with Indian and Lebanese communities to accept a ratio of one non-Liberian to four Liberians. He said this means, of every employee, at least four should be Liberians. He made the disclosure Monday, July 13, 2015 in Monrovia when he appeared as a guest on the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS). According to Min. Lighe, the Ministry will commence the implementation of the new policy, effectively 2016, the INSIGHT newspaper writes.

Related Caption: Labor Minister Meets Business Community(FOCUS)

UN,WB, Others Unlock Billions To Boost Women, Children’s Health

The United Nations, the World Bank Group, and the Governments of Canada, Norway and the United Nation joined country and global health leaders to launch the Global Financing facility (GFF) in support of Every Women Every Child.  The latest announcements are a first step to help close the $33.3 billion annual funding gap for RMNCAH. They also announced that $12 billion in domestic and international, private and public funding has already been aligned to country-led five-year investment plans for women’s, children’s adolescents’’ health in the four GFF front-runner countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. The GFF is adding Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda as the second wave of GFF countries. Further investments in this partnership will unlock significantly more resources from the private sector, with an objective of raising up to $1 billion in private capital, FOCUS reports.

Mount Coffee Hydro Insight US$60 Million Attracted

The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved a new US$60 million International Development Association credit for the Liberian government to help continue to expand affordable electricity services to businesses and households in order to spur economic growth, create jobs, and reduce poverty. Currently, LEC generates 22 megawatts that are being run on high-speed diesel plant, with approximately 30,000 customers connected to the grid, the Daily Graphic newspaper reports.