The Government of Liberia and the European Union will on Tuesday, May 17, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. hold the 4^th Political Dialogue at the C. Cecil Dennis, Jr. Auditorium, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Dialogue is being held under the theme: “Conditions for Peace and Economic Growth”.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, the one-day dialogue will focus on political and security matters, including the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) transition and counter-terrorism; elections - lessons learnt and the way forward for 2017; rule of law and human rights issues.

Participants will also discuss Liberia’s economic situation including the 2016/2017 proposed national budget; bilateral trade issues; development cooperation issues including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Agenda for Transformation mid-term review; update on Liberia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), ratification and economic partnership agreement (EPA), among others.

Other matters to be discussed include thematic and bilateral issues - Schengen Visa, climate change, migration and finally regional issues including an update on ECOWAS/African Union developments and the African Peace Facility.

The 4^th EU-Liberia Political Dialogue will be led by Liberia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Marjon Kamara with the participation of several ministries and agencies of the government including the Ministries of Finance and Development Planning, Defense, Justice, Health, Agriculture and Commerce and Industry.

Others attending are the National Elections Commission (NEC), Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Liberia Refugee, Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) and the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN). The Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC) will also participate in the discussions.

The Head of the European Delegation, Ambassador Tiina Intelmann will lead the European Union’s delegation that will include the Ambassadors of Germany, France, Sweden; the Charge d’Affaires/Deputy Head of Sahel and West Africa Team and the Political Counselor of the EU Delegation.

The EU-Liberia Political Dialogue is in line with Article 8 of the Cotonue Agreement which states that the EU and Member States of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which include Liberia shall regularly engage in a comprehensive, balanced and deep political dialogue leading to commitments on both sides.

The Dialogue aims to exchange information, to foster mutual understanding, and to facilitate the establishment of agreed priorities and shared agenda, in particularly by recognizing existing links between the different aspects of the relations between the Parties and the various areas of cooperation as laid down in the Agreement. The Dialogue strengthens the cooperation between the Parties as well as promote and sustain a system of effective multilateralism.

Since the EU-Liberia Political Dialogue was launched by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the managing director for Africa in the European External Action Services (EEAS), Dr. Nick Westcott on Thursday, June 21, 2012, there have been three Dialogues held.

The inaugural edition, held on Thursday, November 22, 2012; the second, held on February 17, 2014; and the third, held on April 28, 2015.

Following these Dialogues, the EU Heads of Mission and the Government of Liberia represented by the Foreign Minister agreed at the political dialogue meeting in April 2015, to organize ad hoc specific political dialogue meetings on matters of joint interests. The April formal dialogue was followed by specific dialogue meetings to include meetings with the Environmental Protection Agency on May 27, 2015; the Constitutional Review Committee on June 4, 2015; the General Auditing Commission on August 3, 2015; and the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization on February 6, 2016.