Min. Ngafuan Lauds Government’s Capacity Development Efforts
Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan has lauded the steps taken thus far by the Liberian Government in responding to the capacity needs of the country.
He spoke when he delivered the keynote address of the induction ceremony of graduates of the Financial Management Training Program (FMTP) and the Intensive Procurement Training Program (IPTP) over the weekend held at a local hotel in Sinkor.
“Capacity development must therefore continue to occupy a central role in our national development efforts. We laud the steps that are thus far being taken by this Government to respond to the capacity needs of our country”, he remarked.
Dozens of students who had completed trainings in both the FMTP and the IPTP were inducted into the Liberian Civil Service after intensive mentoring programs.
The Foreign Minister who associated very closely with the program during his tenure as Minister of Finance named a host of other innovative capacity building interventions that the Government has been using in being extremely helpful over the years in ramping the country’s public sector capacity. He listed the Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN) program, the Senior Executive Service (SES) Program, the Scott Fellows Program, the President’s Young Professional (PYP) Program, and the FMTP as capacity building efforts being supported by the Government and some of its donor partners.
The Foreign Minister explained that though the physical infrastructural development of the nation is good but also emphasized that even more huge has been the task of rebuilding the country’s human capital otherwise termed as the soft infrastructure to meet the demands of the present and the future.
Stressing the need to expand the FMTP/ITP across the public sector, he added: “We must continue to dedicate more and more of our precious dollars to building the capacity of our people. Donor assistance to our capacity building initiatives is usually short-term and has begun to dry up.”
The Keynote Speaker then used the occasion to encourage the graduates to avail themselves of some of the advanced studying opportunities that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will attract as they were being fully absorbed into the Civil Service.
He then pledged his personal commitment to the programs: “I will continue to be one of the chief advocates for this program. Although my present portfolio makes me to deal with ‘foreign affairs’, I dedicate myself to working with you, Mr. Coordinator, in ensuring that this program attracts the necessary support, both local and foreign, to continue to still afloat. Additionally, we at Foreign Affairs are in the business of attracting scholarship opportunities at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels for civil servants of Liberia”.
Mr. Aagon Tingbeh, Director of the program, and other invitees including the graduates thanked the Minister for his special keynote address to them.
