The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2017

Today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies highlights news of Foreign Minister, Marjon V. Kamara and delegation’s participation in the 3rd U.S.–Liberia Partnership Dialogue, Liberia’s Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba, His Excellency Mr. Lewis G. Brown, II, presentation of his Letters of Credence to the Cuban Government and the pronouncement by the European Union for the provision of 35 million Euros in support of agricultural development and the General Auditing Commission in Liberia.

DOMINANT STORIES  

3rd U.S.–Liberia Partnership Dialogue Today In Washington  

Foreign Minister Marjon V. Kamara, at the head of a high-level delegation is in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., to attend the 3rd U.S.–Liberia Partnership Dialogue, which gets underway today, January 10, 2017. According to a dispatch from Washington, D. C., the U.S.–Liberia Partnership Dialogue takes place at the Department of State where Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, H.E. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will host the day-long dialogue. Beginning the day’s activities, Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, Christine Elder, and Foreign Minister Kamara will open the dialogue with brief remarks regarding future bilateral cooperation. The Daily Observer says talks on the Partnership Dialogue began January 15, 2013 in Washington, D.C., when President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the landmark statement of intent establishing the U.S.–Liberia Partnership Dialogue.

Related Caption: 3^rd U.S.-Liberia Partnership Dialogue Takes Place In Washington D.C. Today(Heritage),

Ambassador Brown Presents Letters Of Credence To Cuban Government

According to the Heritage newspaper, Liberia’s Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba, His Excellency Mr. Lewis G. Brown, II, has presented his Letters of Credence to the Cuban Government. According to a dispatch from New York, Ambassador Brown, II presented his Letters of Credence to the Vice President of the Republic of Cuba, His Excellency Mr. Salvador Valdes Mesa during an official ceremony held at the Revolutionary Palace in Havana recently. Ambassador Brown, who is also Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, stressed that the presentation of his Letters of Credence was a means of expanding and strengthening the relationship between both countries and assured Cuba of Liberia’s continued support at the United Nations. He said it was an honor to have the Cuban Embassy reopened in Liberia. On behalf of the Liberian Government, Ambassador Brown also expressed profound gratitude for the accommodation of medical students studying in Cuba and for its assistance during the country’s fight against the Ebola epidemic. Speaking earlier, Vice President Mesa assured Ambassador Brown of Cuba’s continued support to Liberia and indicated his government’s consideration of requests for assistance in the field of health and education.

Related Captions: Ambassador Brown Presents Letters Of Credence To The Government Of The Republic Of Cuba(The INQUIRER), Ambassador Brown Presents Letters Of Credence To The Government Of The Republic Of Cuba(INSIGHT)  

EU Gives 35M Euros For Agriculture, Accountability 

The European Union (EU) has announced that it will provide 35 million Euros in support of agricultural development and the General Auditing Commission (GAC) in Liberia. At the ceremony in Monrovia yesterday, EU Ambassador to Liberia Tiina Intelmann said: “The organization props both the private and the public sector in the country. The EU supports the Government’s efforts to boost the economy through agricultural development, because agriculture is the road to progress and development.” She added: “Supporting the national audit watchdog ultimately means assuring that public money is properly and wisely spent so as to provide the citizens with best value for their taxes and other public resources in the country.” Ambassador Intelmann said the EU will assist cocoa, fisheries, food and nutrition security as well as build the capacity of employees at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) in ongoing efforts to implement the country’s own Agriculture Transformation Agenda, reports the Daily Observer.

Related Captions: EU Gives EUR 35m For Agriculture, Accountability In Liberia(The INQUIRER), EU Gives EUR 35m For Agriculture And Accountability In Liberia(FOCUS), EU Provides €35M For Agriculture and Accountability in Liberia(FrontPage Africa)

OTHER STORIES  

NEC Receives 2,200 Kits for Voter Registration 

The National Elections Commission has received over 2,200 kits of assorted Voter Registration materials for the impending National Voter Registration Exercise scheduled for February 1 to March 7, 2017. The materials, which include lamination pouch and tools, Special Box for Shipping Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) forms, Logistics and Accounting Forms, as well as stationery materials are now being off-loaded at the Commission’s warehouses. Meanwhile, additional Voter Registration materials including batch and OMR are expected into the country on Monday,  January 9, 2017 to complete the required volume of VR material needed to conduct the training of over 8,000 registration staff and to implement the actual Voter Registration process, reports the INQUIRER newspaper.  

Youth Urged to Take Advantage of 5-Year Project 

Liberian youths have been urged to take advantage of the World Bank supported Youth Opportunities Project (YOP) that is aimed at providing them a means to fulfill their aspirations in business, education and employment. Officially launching the US$10M 5-year YOP yesterday at the Paynesville Town Hall outside Monrovia, Vice President Joseph N. Boakai reiterated the government’s commitment to encourage youth in urban communities to see the importance of the agricultural sector as a means to improve their living conditions. He noted the challenges facing thousands of youth with little or no skills for the labor market and expressed appreciation to the World Bank for its support to provide opportunities for Liberian youth. The project is financed through a US$10m International Development Association (IDA) credit to improve their access to income generation opportunities for 15,000 youth in all 15 counties, reports the Daily Observer.  

Media Is Needed To Ensure “Holistic Functioning” Of Government… Says Speaker Nuquay 

House Speaker Emmanuel Nuquay has asserted that the transformation agenda of Liberia and the Legislature cannot be achieved in the isolation of the Liberia media. Speaker Nuguay is representing the people of Margibi County District #5 in the House of Representatives. According to him, the media, which is referred to as the fourth estate, is needed on board to have a “truly holistic and functioning government. He made these assertions on Monday, January 9, 2017 at the official opening of the Sixth Session of the Liberian Legislature held at the Capitol Building in Monrovia. The Capitol Building is the official seat of the Liberian Legislature.  Speaker Nuguay said the Liberian media must not be isolated in governance process of the country, because media practitioners of journalists too have a critical role to play in maintaining and consolidating peace in the nation, reports the Heritage newspaper.

Related Caption: Speaker Unveils Roadmap To Reconcile House-Senate Certificates Staffers(Daily Observer)

Improved Emergency Obstetric, Newborn Care Will Reduce Mortality; Says Health Ministry

According to the INSIGHT newspaper, a Ministry of Health report has said the improvement of emergency obstetric and newborn care will reduce the maternal and newborn mortality rates in the country. Presently, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in Liberia stands at 1,072 to 100,000 and is considered one of the highest in the world, according to the Ministry’s 2016 annual report released recently. The report noted that one of the strategies to reduce maternal and new born mortality is to improve access to emergency obstetric and new born care in which complications during pregnancy and childbirth are identified and referred to higher level, if necessary.

NEC Disqualifies N.D.C. For 2017 Elections; Says it is not a Registered Political Party

The National Elections Commission (NEC) has clarified that the National Democratic Coalition is not a registered political party in Liberia. According to Cllr. Jerome G. Korkoyah, the NDC was one of the 15 political parties de-certificated last year for their failure to comply with article 83dof the Liberian Constitution. Article 83d  of the Liberian Constitution states that every political party shall publish and submit to the NEC assets and liabilities statements by September 1 of each year. The clarification was prompted by what Cllr. Korkoyah called negative utterances against the government and its officials by the NDC, the FOCUS newspaper says.

Abidjan to Host Regional Energy Co-operation Summit Soon

Cross-border co-operation in West Africa is crucial to developing mechanisms that facilitate trade and power exchange among States. As one of the fastest growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa, Côte d’Ivoire is a popular entry point for African and international companies seeking to invest in the region, as well as harboring the headquarters of the African Development Bank. These points complement the overarching theme of the Regional Energy Co-operation Summit taking place from 26-27 January in Abidjan, which is to unleash international capital to drive forward West Africa’s regional integration, the FOCUS newspaper reads.

United Sierra Leoneans In Liberia Officially Launched

According to the Heritage newspaper, a Non-Government Organization (Ngo) named and styled: United Sierra Leoneans in Liberia (USLIL) has officially launched its long awaited program. The program, which brought together thousands of Sierra Leoneans in the 15 sub-division of Liberia and Sierra Leon, was launched on behalf of the Ambassador of the Republic of Sierra Leone by Atty. Aiah Edwin Mbawa. Atty. Mbawa said he was highly impressed with the manner in which Sierra Leoneans living in Liberia organized themselves and said this was a historic record set by the President of the Organization Madam Gloria Isatta Sheriff Doe for the Government and People of the Republic of Sierra Leone.