Latest News Items                        

Platform guests at the program including UNDP Dominic Sam, VP Boakai and Commerce Minister Miatta Beslow
Voters formed a queue under down pour of rain
UNDP’s Dominic Sam turns keys over to Justice Minister Tah
UNDP Resident Representative Moustapha Soumare’ and Agriculture Minister Florence Chenoweth signed on behalf of their Organizations.

UNDP News Highlights
Liberia has launched its first national Industrial policy with a commitment to create further opportunities for the growth and development of the country’s industrial sector. The National Industrial Policy seeks to among others things; strengthen the private sector in the country. The initiative is being supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Policy was launched under the theme:” Industry for Liberia’s Future.” more..

Over one million Liberians have voted in Presidential and Legislative elections in their Country: Liberians defied the heavy down pour of rain to exercise their franchise at over 4,000 polling places across the country. Party agents and observers from over 100 international and local accredited groups, institutions and organizations observed the process.more..

The Liberia National Police (LNP) and the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN) have received a major boost from the UNDP ahead of the October 11, 2011 Presidential and Legislative elections:
“These vehicles represent greater peace and security for the Liberian people” the words of Liberia’s Justice Minister and Attorney General Christiana Tah, at a handing over ceremony of 42 vehicles and other items by UNDP.more..

The Ministry of Agriculture and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a Global Environment Facility (GEF) Agreement for the Agriculture Sector:  The agreement which runs up to 2015,  is aimed at adressing threats  to agriculture production and food security  in Liberia. more..


UNDP’s presence in Liberia

UNDP is committed to promoting and advocating the global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the national development objectives articulated in the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) by the Government of Liberia. UNDP is dedicated to the cause of promoting human development and has been supporting the government since the signing of the Basic Standard Agreement in 1977. The overall objective has been to support the Government in meeting its national commitments under the MDGs and the PRS. Further, UNDP plays a strong supporting and co-ordination role with the UN Integrated Mission in Liberia, supporting the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and other agencies in promoting and putting into practice the principles of “Working Together” and the “One UN approach”.

UNDP Liberia Country Programme

UNDP Liberia supports the Government of Liberia in the implementation of its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS 2008-2011). This has been fostered through strategic partnerships with the Government through line ministries serving as strategic partners with different projects in UNDP. In order to make this possible, all UNDP’s Annual Work plans (AWPs) have been aligned with the four strategic pillars of the PRS which include Enhancing National Security, Revitalizing the Economy, Strengthening Governance and Rule of Law and Rehabilitating Infrastructure and Delivering of Basic Social Services.

UNDP gets its revenue through two main sources:  Exchange and Non Exchange revenue.  Exchange revenues are revenues received by UNDP for performing service or delivering goods (such as the sale of the Human Development Report).  Non exchange revenues are revenues for which no service is performed or good is delivered. UNDP uses these revenues to support major Government-Civil Society interventions under the four pillars of the PRS that are strategically linked with the United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2008-2012 (UNDAF) five outcomes which include Peace and Security, Equitable Socio-Economic Development, Good Governance and Rule of Law, Access to education and health as well as HIV and AIDS prevention.



Pillar 1
Enhancing National Security
- UNDP through the Governments of Japan, Ireland, Germany, UK and the USA supports the implementation of the National Security Strategy of Liberia (NSSRL) and the National Security Policy (NSP). UNDP works closely with the Ministry of Justice, UNMIL and key donors to support the formation and operationalization of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) of the LNP and also provided support, Bureau of Corrections (BoC) and Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN) through training, capacity building and provision of logistics and direct support to the National Police Training Academy (NPTA).

Pillar 2
Economic Revitalization
- UNDP, works closely with the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs (MPEA) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) through various programmes to support this pillar.

Pillar 3
Strengthening Governance and Rule of Law
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UNDP provides capacity building, operational and logistical support to the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary as well as support to institution building. These interventions include support to public defenders and prosecutors; logistical and capacity building support to the Bureau for Corrections and Rehabilitation, National Bar Association and University of Liberia Law School and support to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), the National Elections Commission (NEC) and the Governance Commission (GC). At the sub-national level, UNDP worked closely in delivering some early gains at the county and district levels through its Local Decentralization and Local Development Flagship (LDLD) Programme supported by the European Commission and the United Nations Capital Development Fund in addition to core funds from UNDP.

Pillar 4
Rehabilitating Infrastructure and Delivering Basic Social Services
- UNDP through its Community Based Recovery programme and Global Fund programmes supports key government institutions, including the Ministries of Public Works and Health in support of this pillar.

UNDP's activities in Liberia fall within six corporate thematic areas
:

Democratic Governance
Poverty Reduction
Crisis Prevention & Recovery
Environment & Energy
HIV/AIDs and
Women’s Empowerment

General Summary of UNDP’s Achievements

With a paradigm shift from crisis management to reconstruction and development, UNDP has over the years, consolidated progress between the period of transition to recovery and development. It is keeping pace with the changing needs of the Liberian people with increased emphasis especially in the areas of governance reform and economic revitalization. High priority and support have been placed on security sector reforms, elections, capacity building, revitalizing the economy, anti corruption and community rehabilitation while integrating considerations of human rights, gender and the environment among others.

UNDP continues to contribute to promoting dialogues, facilitating the formulation of pro-poor policies and programmes, building partnerships and sharing global best practice as evident in support to the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (IPRS), Poverty Reduction Strategy I and now (2011) Poverty Reduction Strategy II. Thru these strategies, UNDP has been able to support the Government of Liberia respond to the emergency needs of its people thru programs like Transfer of Knowledge Thru Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN), Senior Executive Service (SES), National Capacity Development (NCD- there is now a National Capacity Development Strategy in place), Justice and Security, National Visioning, Community Based Recovery etc. Working closely with the National Elections Commission, UNMIL and other partners, UNDP was instrumental both in 2005 and 2011through a 3-million dollar fund from the EU (2005) and a 27 million dollar Elections Basket Fund supported by Spain, Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Sweden and the EU (2010-2012), to support various aspects of these processes. They include: the timely procurement and deployment of all election materials (ballots, voter registration kits, indelible ink, voters’ Registration Forms Camera kits with solar panels etc); Civic and Voters Education-UNDP recruited several civil society organizations in both instances to develop and produce voter education guidelines and materials, taking into consideration diversity, that were disseminated nation-wide. There was also support to political parties’ frameworks that prioritized participation of women which saw 49% women registration and participation in the 2011 elections process among 1.9 million eligible voters. UNDP was also heavily involved in the training of electoral Staff, female aspirants, as well as police and immigration officers. UNDP has also supported Liberia’s Justice Security Sector through the Justice and Security Trust Fund.

Under this programme tremendous achievements have been visible with several trainings conducted for Police Officers (Police Support Unit, Emergency Response Unit), Immigration Officers, Prosecutors and Correction Officers among others. UNDP has also been responsive to the infrastructure, technical and logistical needs of Liberia’s Justice Sector through the construction and rehabilitation of several courts, police barracks/depots and other security facilities. The Small Arms Programme continues to work well with the collection of several small arms, UXOs and other weapons and ammunitions from across the Country. With support from UNDP, Liberia now has its first Industrialization Policy which serves as a blue print for industrial development in the country and seeks to among others things strengthen the private sector in the country. UNDP’s Liberia Decentralization and Local Development programme has been instrumental in the formulation of a Liberian- Decentralization Policy that promotes shared governance and participatory development. On the whole, UNDP continues to make significant progress in many of its flagship programmes in the areas of rural economic development; enhanced governance of natural resources; community based recovery and access to basic services as well as micro-finance to vulnerable communities.

2011 Programme Delivery

2010 Programme Delivery