Liberia: Annan, Powell to address donors' conference at UN next month

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and the head of Liberia's Transitional Government, C. Gyude Bryant, are scheduled to address an international donors' conference next month seeking hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild the war-torn West African country.

The International Reconstruction Conference on Liberia, to be held at UN Headquarters in New York on 5-6 February, will highlight the country's needs for financial assistance after 15 years of civil conflict, offering the international community an opportunity to pledge support.

A team consisting of the UN, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), non-government organizations (NGOs) and the Liberian transitional government has been working for the past two months to prepare a report for the conference on the country's needs.

These range from $400 million to $500 million over the next two years, in addition to a $170 million humanitarian appeal made in November, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Administrator Julia Taft told reporters earlier this month.