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UNDP strikes deal to support better governance in Liberia

UNDP strikes deal to support better governance in Liberia

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Hoping to promote transparent and accountable government in Liberia as it recovers from the ravages of a 15-year civil war, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is giving the country’s Governance Reform Commission $500,000 over the next two years.

At a meeting in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, on Friday, officials from the UNDP and the Governance Reform Commission signed a memorandum explaining how the UNDP’s support will work.

The Commission – set up under the Liberian peace agreement signed in August last year – has the mandate to promote good governance and to reform the management of the country’s public sector.

Liberia’s civil war, which lasted from 1989 until last year, left 150,000 people dead and also led to a complete breakdown of law and order. The UNDP support for the Commission is part of a package of initiatives being introduced to help produce good governance again in the West African country.

UNDP’s Country Director, Steven Ursino, said the Commission assistance scheme was designed to support Liberians as they attempt to reform and improve their government, rather than for outsiders to impose change.