The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILYNEWS SUMMARY FOR THURSDAYOCTOBER 25, 2018

News of President George Manneh Weah’s declaration of “Tuition Free University Education in Liberia” is the story topping today’s edition of our summary.

Other stories include news of the United States and Norway pledging to solidify ties with Liberia aswell as the expected launching of  5 Year National Pro-Poor Agenda in Nimba- the Liberian leader.

DOMINANT STORY  

Liberia: President Weah Declares ‘Tuition Free’ At All Public Universities 

The FrontPage Africa newspaper reads that President George Manneh Weah on Wednesday, October 24, declared tuition free at the undergraduate level for all public universities across the country. When he met them on Wednesday, October 24, he told the gathering in the auditorium on the Capitol Hill campus that the inability for young people to continue their education is troubling to the growth of the country. According to the President, unless his government invests in human capital by providing quality education, their ‘Pro-Poor Agenda’ will not be fulfilled. The ‘Pro-Poor Agenda’ is the development model that this present Liberian administration is using to lift its people out of poverty to prosperity. “The increasing cost of education in Liberia leading to none enrollments, none attendant and frequent drop out is becoming counterproductive to our development goals,” the Liberian leader said. According to President Weah, it is time the government takes the board initiative and makes direct social intervention to address the many problems that the young people are facing. “There is a definite link between the well-educated citizenry and economic growth and in recognition of that my government has decided to invest in our human capital in order to achieve economic growth,” President Weah declared

RELATED CAPTION: Pres. Weah Declares Free Tuition at UL, Tubman U, (Daily Observer), Weah Declares UL, Public Universities Tuition-Free (Hot pepper), Weah Declars Freee University Edication( New Dawn) Tuition Free at UL ( The News)

Weah to Launch 5-Yr National Pro-Poor Agenda in Nimba--Seeks to reduce absolute poverty by 23 percent across 5 out of 6 regions

President George M. Weah will on Saturday, October 27, officially launch the five-year national development plan of the Government’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) in Ganta, Nimba County. The launch is expected to bring together government officials, international partners, civil society organizations and County Superintendents, among others. The document will also seek to raise Liberians out of poverty and reduce the vast inequality and disparity gap under the CDC-led administration.

According to MFDP, the objective of the PAPD will allow the government to build more and trusted institutions that will lead to a stable, resilient and inclusive nation embracing its triple heritage and anchor on its African identity. According to the Daily Observer newspaper, it will also provide greater income security to an additional one million people, and reduce absolute poverty by 23 percent across 5 out of 6 regions through sustained, and inclusive economic growth driven by scaled-up investments in agriculture, infrastructure, human resource development, and in social protection. During the six-year period, the PAPD project will place the needs of the poor and vulnerable at the center of all development interventions that will lift impoverished Liberians out of poverty without severely affecting the wealthy, and reduce waste in government as well as repurposing the savings to improve the lives of ordinary people.

RELATED CAPTION:Weah Launches Pro-poor Agenda (The News)

‘US AND NORWAY PLEDGED TO SOLIDIFY TIES WITH LIBERIA

An inside story of the FrontPage Africa newspaper reads that, The Senior Advisor for Africa at the United States Missions to the United Nations says the United States is ready to work to further solidify the excellent ties already subsisting between the United States and Liberia, particularly at the level of the United Nations. Ambassador Terrence P. McCully made the pledge recently when he paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Ambassador Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemeyan Sr. at the Permanent Missions of Liberia to the United Nations.  In response Ambassador Kemeya thanked Ambassador McCully for the visit and described it as a great start in taking the excellently friendly ties between the United States and Liberia to a new and elevates level.  He assured Ambassador McCully that the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the United Nations will work closely with the permanent mission of the United States at the United Nations. In related news the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Norway to the United Nations His Excellency Ambassador Tore Hattrem also paid a courtesy visit on Ambassador Kemaya pledging Norway’s commitment to continue working with Liberia in the areas of Energy, Marine Resources, Peace and security and Climate Change.

Liberia: Rice Production Gets Boost as Italian Investors Express Interest

Based on an invitation from President George Manneh Weah and the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change Chairman, Mulbah Morlu, 12 Italian investors, who arrived in the country to scout investment opportunities, have expressed more interest in the rice production sector. Other sectors are not off the list, though. President Weah and Morlu made the country’s case during their respective visits to Europe. The Italian investors are now in country and holding series of discussions with agencies and ministries of government for possible investment in other sectors. They commenced their discussions Wednesday, October 24, with the Liberia National Investment Commission, the Monrovia City Corporation, the Ministry of Public Works, the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, and will conclude the discussion with Foreign Affairs Minister Gbehnzohngar Milton Findley today, October 25.Speaking at the event, CDC Chairman Mulbah Morlu assured the investors of friendly business climate and expressed anticipation that they will encourage other colleagues back in their country to join the venture. “Liberia is a ‘virgin land’ that is ready for every available legal investment,” he told the Italians. According to Morlu, agriculture is lifeblood of the Liberian people especially rice production on grounds that rice is the nation’s only staple food, pens the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Gov’t Promises to Protect Endangered Spices of Fish

A Daily Observer news publication reads that, the government through the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFFA) and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) recently launched a three-year National Plan of Action to sustain sharks and rays management, a release from the entity has said. The new plan of action for sharks and rays, according to the release, is expected to address activities that are undermining the sustainability of sharks and rays, because data on the species are expected in the three years for the the National Plan of Action for sharks(NPOA) that comes as part of a response mechanism to conserve the spices and ensure the long-term survival of sharks and rays. A field-based research report presented by EJF at NPOA launch states that at the period of 2013 and 2016, EJF recorded 19 sharks and rays species that are found on the red list of threatened species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), EJF report says. Species on the red list of IUCN include the Great Hammerhead Shark, Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, Smooth Hammerhead Shark,  Blackchin Guitarfish, White-spotted Guitarfish,  Bigeye Thresher Shark,  Chilean Devil Ray, Bentfin Devil Ray, Giant Devil Ray, Blue Shark, Shortfin Mako Shark, and Longfin Mako Shark.

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Rep. Moye Cultivates 400 Acres of Rice 

According to the Daily Observer newspaper, Bong County Electoral District #2 Representative Prince Moye, also Deputy Speaker of the 54th Legislature, says he is interested in using opportunities to expand his agro-business to create more jobs for young people in the county.Moye said his decision is based on the fact that many of the locals have lived their lives on subsistence farming and through this, they were able to send some of their children including the lawmaker himself to school. He told the Daily Observer on Friday, October 19 that he sees agriculture as the foundation of a prosperous Liberian society, and so, he wants the government to invest more in sustaining and further developing the sector. “With the right systems of cultivation and agricultural expansion,” Rep. Moye said, Liberia could once again be a premier exporter of rice to the Mano River Basin.He said that the government cannot solely address the agriculture situation even if policy-makers call for a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with stakeholders in the sector. “It is not about selling, the more hands we have in agriculture, the bigger the market. There is a need for PPP where other people can access products we have in the market,” Moye said. He said that Liberia’s agricultural-based economy is still dominated by subsistence production, and characterized by low crop productivity, but suggested that with government’s intervention, farmers would regain their pride.

EPA, UNDP STREGENTHEN NATIONAL CAPACITIES… To Meet Global Environmental Obligations.

In its quest to strengthen national capacities in meeting global and environmental obligations, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has concluded a two day stakeholder’s awareness workshop on the management of Information and knowledge for the planning and policy making in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County from September 9-10, 2018. The training, which attracted 40 participants from line government ministries, agencies and civil society organizations, was held under the cross-cutting capacity Development Project. Liberia’s Cross-Cutting Capacity Development Project Manager Aaron S.M. Wesseh disclosed that the two days CCCD’s awareness workshop was intended to increase stakeholder understanding of the difference between data, information and knowledge, pens the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Anti-Graft Issues Dominate World Bank Publication

Transparency, accountability and anti-corruption issues took center-stage at the dissemination launch of the World Bank’s publication, entitled, License to Drill: A Manual in integrity Due Diligence in Extractive Sector Licensing. At ceremony held at the World Bank Liberia office in congo Town yesterday, speakers after highlighted the issue of ensuring transparency accountability and integrity as a means of fighting corruption in public offices especially when issuing licenses in the extractive sector pens the Inquirer newspaper.

FDA Deputy Boss Dedicates Refurbished Prison Cells In Banjor

According to the Inquirer newspaper Foresty Development Authority Deputy Managing Director Benjamin Tennessee Plewon, lll has dedicated two newly refurbished prison cells at the banjor police zone 6 depot #1 located in hotel Africa, Monrovia. The cells including both male and female compartments were renovated by the Gabriel Weah Peace and Advocacy Foundation thus creating an environment of decency for the inmates.

Veep Taylor Dedicates Classroom For ‘Children with Autism Class

The Inquirer newspaper relates Vice president Jewel Howard-Taylor recently dedicated a class room for children with autism at the Abundance Grace Day Care School on the GSA Road in Paynesville. Autism is a complex neurobehavioral condition that includes impairments in social interaction and developmental language and communication skills combained with rigid, repetitive behaviors.

West Point Health And Sanitation Organization Makes Headway

The West Point Health and Sanitation Organization Incorporated (WPHSO), led by Thomas Tweh, has been actively involved in the creation of community-based services as a way of empowering young people. The WPHSO is also playing a key role in the effective and professional execution of the special beaches clean-up program under Maritime, titled ‘’reclaiming the beaches’’, under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth and Sports pens the Hot pepper newspaper.