The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017

Following critical reviews of the local dailies, the Bureau of Public Affairs prepared synopsis of the papers highlighting articles from the front, back and inside pages of the dailies.  Dominating the headlines include news concerning the assertion made by Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador  Lewis Garseedah Brown, II, that US$17 million funding is needed for the smooth conduct of  the October presidential  and general elections; President Sirleaf’s participation in  the 2017 Megafest  in Dallas,Texas, the USA.  Also topping today’s  new stance  include  articles on the Gender Ministry’s condemnation of a graphic sex clip on the social media amongst other stories.

DOMINANT STORIES

Liberia Complains $17m Shortage At UN For 2017

Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mr. Lewis Garseedah Brown, II says government is growing concern about a US$17 million funding gap for the implementation of the activities of the National Elections Commission (NEC) and is seeking continued partnership and support to sustain its peace and continued needed reforms. “So far, out of the US$45 million requested by the NEC, the Liberian government has committed to the payment of US$20 million and the international community has committed about US$8 million. The difference is yet to be committed,” Mr. Brown is quoted in a dispatch dated 28 June from New York as saying. The Liberian Envoy to the UN was briefing the United Nations Security Council Tuesday, June 27, on the 33rd progress report of the Secretary General on the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). He says Liberia has concluded the inclusive development of a peace building plan consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2333, but needs support for its implementation. Speaking earlier, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and head of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Farid Zarif appealed to the UN system and other international partners to increase and consolidate their investment in Liberia to support the country during this crucial transition and beyond, reads the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Captions: Amb. Brown Craves US$17m NEC’s Funding Gap as UN Security Council Holds First Formal Meeting on Liberia Since Resolution 2333 (FOCUS), Brown Highlights US$17M NEC Funding Gap As UN Security Council Meets  on Liberia (Heritage)

Ellen Arrives In Dallas For Megafest

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has arrived in Dallas,Texas, the USA, as special guest at the 2017 Megafest; the world's largest  family-friendly festival hosted by The Potter's House scheduled for June 28-July 1, 2017. A dispatch from the U.S. said President Sirleaf and delegation were received upon arrival at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport by a high-level delegation from the Potter's House and the office of the Mayor of the City of Dallas, as well as officials from the Embassy of Liberia, led by Hon. Jeff Gongoer Dowana, Charge’ d’Affaires at the Embassy of Liberia in Washington, D.C. According to the Heritage newspaper, during a courtesy call on President Sirleaf, Mayor Mike Rawlings lauded President Sirleaf’s leadership of Liberia through challenges, including the Ebola epidemic, during which the President reached out to him after a Liberian with the disease died in Dallas while a nurse treating that patient also contracted the disease. For her part, President Sirleaf thanked Mayor Rawlings and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for their constructive engagement and support during the Ebola crisis, and also indicated that Liberia looks forward to closer ties and partnership with the City of Dallas.

Related Captions: President Sirleaf Arrives in Dallas for Megafest (The INQUIRER), President Sirleaf in Dallas for Megafest (FOCUS)

Gender Frowns At Graphic Sex Clip

The New Dawn newspaper  says the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) has frowned at a graphic sex clip depicting a female believe to be a Liberian journalist in a recorded sexual act on social media. The ministry says the circulation of the tape has exposed the privacy of the lady involved and has asked that further sharing of the video be halted. It has also called on the Ministry of Justice to immediately intervene by arresting the alleged perpetrator who is reportedly in the employ of the Ministry of Finance And Development Planning. Contrary to what many have claimed to be a recent tape, which may have been mistakenly uploaded on social media, the ministry said its investigation gathered indicates that the said recording was done long ago, but was released recently when the two reportedly engaged in a misunderstanding

Related Captions: Gender Ministry Decries Nude Video (FOCUS), Gender Ministry Condemns Nude Video (Heritage), Gender Ministry Condemns Nude Video (The INQUIRER)

As Several End Website Development Training: World Bank Pledges  Support to Liberian Media

The Country Manager of the World Bank to Liberia, Madam Larisa Leschenko, has assured the Liberia media of its commitment in helping to address the capacity needs of the media. Speaking at the end of a one-week website development training for Liberian media representatives, which was the Bank remains optimistic that such assistance will help transform the Liberian media landscape on its path to development and prosperity. According to the World Bank, the assistance is in fulfillment of her promise upon assuming the office of the Bank’s Manager in Liberia.  She Stated that the just ended website development training is aimed at solving many of the capacity gaps that the local media is faced with, the Heritage newspaper reads.

Related Captions: World Bank Ends Website Development Training For Media Houses (FrontPage Africa), 30 Media Webmasters End Training World Bank Sponsors 5-Day Exercise (FOCUS)

OTHER STORIES

US$32.25M Grant To Help Renewable Energy Sector In Liberia Highlighted With Support From African Development Bank & Climate Investment Funds

The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) awarded Liberia a grant in the amount of US$23.25 million to help transform the country’s renewable energy sector. The project is aimed at developing a 9.8 MW, Hydropower plant at Gbedin Falls on the Mano River in Nimba County. It will provide a low-cost, sustainable and reliable source of electricity to Liberia. The project will be funded by Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program, a program under the CIF which objective is to empower transformation in developing countries by demonstrating the economic, social and environmental viability of renewable energy, the FOCUS newspaper says.

At Police Training Academy In Paynesville: LNP, UNMIL Launch Joint Drill

The Liberia National Police (LNP) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) have launched a joint drill at the Police Training Academy in Paynesville. According to the Deputy Inspector General for Operations of the Liberia National Police (LNP), Abraham Kromah, the exercise is part of preparations by the LNP and UNMIL ahead of the October Presidential and Representatives elections. Col. Kromah disclosed plans by the Liberia National Police to collaborate with other security institutions in the country to ensure that the election is peaceful and violent-free, the Heritage newspaper reports.

Withdrawal Of Mutilated Banknotes In Full Swing Official

The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has informed the Plenary of the House of Representatives that it has begun the removal of mutilated Liberian dollar banknotes from the market. The disclosure was made by CBL Executive Governor Milton Weeks on Tuesday during an executive session, according to Grand Kru County Representative Numene Bartekwa. Bartekwa, has since served as a key proponent for the removal of mutilated banknotes from the Liberian market. He has written several communications to the House of Representative relative to the proliferation of damaged Liberian dollar banknotes on the market, the FOCUS newspaper reads. Meanwhile, the paper says the House has also constituted a committee to liaise with the CBL to ensure that it exercises proper oversight as the bank disposes of the mutilated notes.  `                                                                                                                                         

Related Caption: Official: CBL Begins Withdrawal Of Mutilated Banknotes (Heritage)

LRA Seizes 2 Smuggled Cars

The New Dawn newspaper reads that the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), through its Anti-Smuggling and Intelligence Unit (ASIU) has seized two vehicles that were smuggled into the country through the Free Port of Monrovia. A press release from the LRC says the vehicles were smuggled in a BIVAC Pre-shipment Inspection (PSI) sealed container. The two vehicles, a Used Toyota Mini Bus and a Mitsubishi Pickup, which were onboard a container marked “MRKU4628339” from Australia, were illegally imported as car parts by the Inland Trading Center and cleared by the Sealine Marine Cargo Handling Inc, and intercepted on June 15. An LRA Anti-Smuggling investigation established that some vital parts of the vehicles including seats, doors and engines were disassembled and secretly concealed in the middle segments of the container. The LRA Anti-Smuggling discovered the criminal act following a robust inspection carried out by its Intercepting Officer and a Customs Examiner, who escorted the container to its destination in Paynesville, outside Monrovia.

Related Captions: In A BIVAC PSI Sealed Container: LRA Seizes Two “Smuggled Vehicles’ (INSIGHT)

Panelists Frown On Unethical Behavior

A front page story of the INQUIRER newspaper reads that panelists serving on a media and law symposium have frowned on what they called unethical behavior on the part of the Liberian media. Speaking yesterday at a day-long Media and Law Symposium held at the main campus of the University of Liberia on Capitol Hill, the panel believed that training and capacity building could ease some of the major problems affecting the conduct of how journalists write news stories. Although there were other issues on the panelists’ desk, but the issue of media ethics, and composure of journalists, took center stage, as several lawyers and law oh. A school students were seen raising their hands, perhaps to contribute to the questions and concerns already on the table. Information Minister, Len Eugene Nagbe who led the panel discussion, was co-hosted by others, including former Liberia Solicitor General Cllr. Benedict Sannoh , Liberia Independent Information Commission Boss, Cllr. Beedor Wlah Freeman, and Atty. Alphonso Zeon of the Millennium Challenge Corporation as first panelist of discussants.

Liberia One Health Coordination Platform Launched

The Government of Liberia through authorities at the Ministry of Health in collaboration with partners on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 formally launched the Liberia One Health Coordination Platform at the Golden Gate Hotel in Paynesville, outside Monrovia. The One Health Coordination Platform brought together animal, human and environmental health experts or professionals who shored idea and worked together to plan, coordinate and effectively respond to outbreaks. The One Health approach was triggered following the Ebola Virus a lesson leant. It can be recalled that coordination Mechanisms that were set up during the EVD Crisis demonstrated their importance and were very effective in controlling the epidemics, building on the One Health approach, the Heritage newspaper reads.

Polio Vaccine Injection Arrives

The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) Department of the Ministry of Health has introduced a new protective polio vaccine called “Inactivated Polio Vaccine” (IPV).  Speaking at the TB Annex in Congo Town ahead of the launch of the new vaccine on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, the EPI Communication Officer, Madam Angeline Tarr, , said the new IPV, which is an injection vaccine, is more powerful  than the oral vaccine, because it affects the children immune system in two ways, beginning within the bloodshed and the stomach. Madam Tarr pointed out that the introduction of the new polio vaccine doesn’t in anyway suggest the ineffectiveness of the oral vaccine, stressing that the old protective vaccine, which is the oral one and the new injection vaccine, will both be given at the same time, the Heritage newspaper reads.

Women & Children Group Holds Training for Female Aspirants Tomorrow

The Organization for Women and Children (ORWOCH) will hold a one day training of female aspirants and CSOs on June 30^th 2017 at the YWCA Conference Hall, Congo Town, Liberia. The training is being supported by OXFAM with funds from the Government of Netherlands and will be held under the theme: “Enhancing Women’s Capacity as Right Holders to become Change Agents in the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence and Increased Democratic Participation”. The training will target young female politicians, decision makers, and heads of Civil Society Organizations at the central and local levels, to champion the prevention of violence against women and be role-models for women’s participation in democratic processes, the INQUIRER newspaper says.

Begin Asking Politicians About Their Plans For Eliminating Illiteracy Alfalit Directors Urges Students

An inside story of the Heritage newspaper reads that the Director of Alfalit Liberia, Rev. Emmanuel Giddings, has called on students of the Alfalit literacy and basic education program, including community leaders across the country to begin asking politicians aspiring in the upcoming October elections about their plans for eliminating illiteracy in their counties or region in which they are seeking election. Rev. Giddings believes the huge illiteracy problem of  the country Alfalit has been attempting to solve for the past 11 years is not a single institution or individual problem, but one that requires serious national support from the central government, stressing that it is possible for Liberia to reduce illiteracy provided Alfalit Liberia is given the right supports, the paper says.