THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2015

Today’s summary of the local dailies highlights President Johnson Sirleaf’smeetingwith some actors inpromoting women empowerment on the African continent, Liberia’s participationin the 12th ECOWAS- International Committee of the Red Cross International Review Seminar in Abuja, Nigeria and the discussion between Liberia and EU on progress made on the Joint Implementation Committee of the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement among others.

DOMINANT STORIES

Pres. Sirleaf Meets Key Women Actors

TheNew Dawnnewspaper writes that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has met with some actors and stakeholders promoting women empowerment on the African continent. According to a dispatch from Johannesburg, the Liberian leader met with representatives of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Empowering Women in Agriculture Initiative (EWAI), Gender is my Agenda Campaign (GIMAC), a network of grass-root organizations, and Femmes Africa Solidarities (FAS). The delegation included Madam Binta Diop, Mrs. Thelma Aworie, Joyce Cacho and the Executive Secretary of the ACBF, Professor Emmanuel Nnadozie. On behalf of the delegation, Professor Nnadozie congratulated President Sirleaf for the excellent leadership role she continues to play not just for Liberia, but the entire African continent which has witnessed tremendous progress. He particularly thanked her for showing leadership during the Ebola crisis and for quickly defeating the surge of the virus. In the context of the 20th GIMAC pre-summit consultative meeting on gender mainstreaming held on the margins of the 19th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July 2012, the GIMAC coordinated by Femmes Africa Solidarities (FAS) launched the initiative to empower women in agriculture initiative (EWAI) in partnership with the ACBF. The initiative was officially launched under the patronage of President Sirleaf on July 15, 2012 at a high-level breakfast meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. President Sirleaf and representatives of the African Women’s Movement representing GIMAC were joined at the event by many distinguished guests who accepted to support the initiative such as the former President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Campore; the Foreign Minister of Senegal, Alioune Badara Cisse; Agriculture Minister of Djibouti, Mohammed Ahmed Awaleh; and the former President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Donald Kerberuka; among others.

Related Caption: Pres. Sirleaf Meets With Key Women Empowerment Actors(INSIGHT), Ellen Meets Key Women Empowerment Actors(The News)

Improving Forest Governance: Liberia, Eu Discuss Progress

The second formal meeting of the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) of the Liberia-EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) took place at the Liberia Chamber of Commerce, Monrovia, on Friday 12 June, 2015. The meeting was co-chaired by the Chair of the Forest Development Authority’s Board of Directors, Sister Mary Laurene Brown, and the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Liberia, Tiina Intelmann, in presence of other distinguished guests and observers including Managing Director of the FDA, Harrison Karnwea, European Commission, the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Justice, Liberia Revenue Authority, civil society, private sector and key development partners. EU Ambassador Intelmann said  ”2015 is a crucial year for the global community and our planet: a series of international conferences with agree on Financing for Development, sustainable development and climate change goals for the next 15 years. The FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the EU and Liberia can make an important contribution to our joint efforts to tackle climate change”, writes the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Related Captions: Liberia, EU Discuss Forest Governance(Spirit Of Truth), Liberia, EU Discuss Forest Governance(INSIGHT), Liberia, EU Discuss Forest Governance(Heritage), Liberia, EU Discuss Progress In Improving Forest Governance(The Inquirer)

Liberian Women Leaders Participate In ECOWAS-ICRC Seminar In Abuja

According to the Daily Observer, three prominent Liberian women participated in the 12th ECOWAS- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) International Review Seminar in Abuja, the Federal Republic of Nigeria on June 9 to 11. A release from the Liberian Embassy in Abuja says Cllr. Harriette G. Badio, Deputy Justice Minister for Codification, who represented the Liberian Government, led the delegation which included Counselor Zeor Daylue Bernard, Senior Legal Research Officer of Liberia’s Law Reform Commission and Attorney Nester Urey, Legal Advisor to ICRC Liberia. The 12th ECOWAS-ICRC Review Meeting on the Promotion and Implementation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in West Africa brought together 30 representatives from ECOWAS Member States. According to the release, Cllr. Badio disclosed that the focus of the seminar was on humanitarian issues that post-conflict countries face: “Liberia is one of such countries.

Related Captions: Liberian Women Leaders Participate In ECOWAS-ICRC Seminar In Abuja(INSIGHT), Liberian Women Leaders Participate In ECOWAS-ICRC Seminar In Abuja(Heritage)

U.S. Peace Corps To Expand

The United States Embassy near Monrovia has announced that over the next twelve months U.S. Peace Corps in Liberia plans to expand the number of volunteers to pre-Ebola level. U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, Madam Deborah Malac, made the assertion on Friday, June 12 in the C. Cecil Dennis Auditorium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia when she swore in five Peace Corps Response Volunteers. “These five Americans will join the legacy created by more than 4,300 Volunteers, who came to Liberia before them. Indeed, they underscore a growing people-to-people development partnership between our nations that dates back to 1962”, The U.S. Envoy assured that the Volunteers will continue to help students and teachers better employ limited resources such as libraries, laboratory materials, and learning aids and they will begin looking at ways to help support public health and literacy initiatives. She added that they will continue to build Liberian capacity that spans far beyond the classroom, as they all have shown in their commitment to gender equity, food security, malaria prevention, and many other initiatives in the past, writes the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Captions: First Batch Of Post-Ebola Peace Corps Volunteers Sworn In(INSIGHT), Post-Ebola First US Peace Corps Volunteers Sworn In(In Profile Daily), After Liberia Declared Ebola-free, 5 Peace Corps Return(Daily Observer)

OTHER STORIES

President Sirleaf Meets U.S. Assistant Secretary Of State and Outgoing AfDB President Dr. Donald Kaberuka

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has held separate discussions with a United States Government delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas Greenfield and a delegation from the African Development Bank (AfDB) led by Dr. Donald Kaberuka and the United Nations Development program (UNDP). According to a dispatch from Johannesburg, South Africa, the meeting with the American delegation was focused on U.S - Liberia relations and discussion on key continental and global issues. The American Government’s delegation reiterated its commendation to President Sirleaf for her extraordinary and exemplary leadership role in eradicating the Ebola virus and the Liberian people for standing with the government in defeating the virus. They pledged to stand with the country during its post-Ebola recovery processes and undertakings. During the meeting with the African Development Bank’s delegation headed by Dr. Donald Kaberuka which was also attended by representatives of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and officials of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the President pleaded for the AfDB and UNDP’s support to the APRM which is the continent’s premier governance tool. She pointed out that the two groups are strategic partners to the African Union, needed to stand with the APRM which is currently faced with resource constraints to ensure the full revitalization of the secretariat and support to the work of peer review by the Panel of Eminent Persons which is even more critical, reports the Daily Observer.

Related Caption: EJS Chats With U.S. Assistant Secretary, Linda Thomas Greenfield(The News)

Day Of The African Child Celebration Goes To Buchanan

According to theNew Dawnnewspaper, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection says festivities to commemorate the 2015’s Day of the African Child on Tuesday, June 16 will be held in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, southeast Liberia, with the participation of three children from each of Liberia’s 15 counties.  Speaking during a regular press briefing last Thursday, June 11, 2015 at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism on Capitol Hill, Deputy Gender Minister for Children Protection, Lydia May Sherman, said June 16 each year is celebrated around the world as the Day of the African Child in commemoration of the 1976 Soweto massacre in South Africa involving school children. Minister Sherman said the objective of the celebration is to look at issues that affect children and how to address them including early marriage, among others. She said the Government of Liberia remains committed to providing budgetary support for programs that would improve the well being of children across the country, adding that this year, the African Union will witness a youth takeover during the celebration as more than 100 events will be held by various youth advocates across the world.

Shutdown – Govt Plans Schools’ Closure

Education Ministry officials have reached a policy decision to shutdown all primary and secondary schools across the country this month for better preparation of pupils, the New Democrat understood. Schools were closed for nearly a year due to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak that rocked the country, killing more than 5,000 people. The public health disaster significantly affected disposal income and household earnings. One source disclosed that about five million United States Dollars (US$5m) has reportedly been allocated to back the policy.

African Leaders Ink New Global Development Agenda Soon…Ellen Discloses

Liberia’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says African stakeholders have acknowledged the critical importance of the new agenda to the development of their countries and the continent by framing the Common African Position (CAP). In her opening address at the High Level committee (HLC) on the Post 2015 Development Agenda on Saturday in Johannesburg, South Africa, President Sirleaf stated that “our expectations are that this agenda will enable us to complete the unfinished business of the MDGS”, FOCUS writes.

3 Ministries Join MPW To Coordinate WASH Operations Nationwide

Three ministries of government have been added to the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) to coordinate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) activities in the counties. The disclosure was made at the National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene promotion committee secretariat focal person, Assistant Minster George Yarngo at the capacity strengthening and sub-coordination session in Zwedru. Minister Yarngo, who headed the team to Grand Gedeh and River gee counties, named the Ministries of Health, education and Internal Affairs as the ministries added to work along with MPW to coordinate WASH activities with partners in the county. ICRC, WHHLISH, RIDA, UNICEF and others were some partners identified, Heritage asserts.

World Bank:  Investment In Health, Education creates Jobs

Developing countries face a series of tough challenges in 2015, including the looming prospect of higher borrowing costs as they adapt to a new era of low prices for oil and other key commodities, resulting in a fourth consecutive year of disappointing economic growth this year, says the World Bank Group’s latest Global economic Prospects (GEP) report, released today. Developing countries were an engine of global growth following the financial crisis, but now they face a more difficult economic environment, said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, New Democrat reports.

Ellen Yearns For South African Investors

The FOCUS newspaper reports that Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia has called for a trade and investment mission from South Africa to visit Liberia in a bid to bridge the huge trade imbalance between the two African nations. “We need to find business proposals that lead to mutual benefits for the countries and peoples and we want to thank South Africa for supporting Liberia in the past and today”, the Liberian leader said.

Related Caption: South African Investors To Assess Business Climate…In Liberia(The News)

Pres. Sirleaf Engages Senior IDC, NETCARE’s Officials In South Africa

President Sirleaf chats with Industrial Development Cooperation head, Godfrey Henn in Johannesburg, South Africa Photo Credit: Emasion.gov.Ir. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has participated in three major events planned on the margins of 25^th African Union Summit, including visits and discussions with the senior managements Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC) and NETCARE, the Spirit Of Truth newspaper reports.