Liberia: UN and partners voice concern at funding shortfall for peace process

Although Liberia has registered “remarkable progress” in the past year since the United Nations moved in to enforce a peace accord that ended nearly 15 years of vicious civil war, insufficient international funding to tackle the many formidable challenges ahead is cause for serious concern, according to a new assessment.

Budget shortfalls threaten the reintegration of ex-combatants, the return of refugees and the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs), overall recovery efforts and the timetable for the registration of voters for October 2005 elections, Liberian, UN and West African officials declared after a joint session at UN Headquarters in New York.

The first meeting of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), UN and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Coordination Mechanism, called on donors to contribute the necessary funds in a timely manner, noting that only $253 million of $520 million pledged by donors in February 2004 had so far been received.

But the gathering also praised the great strides already made in such key areas as the deployment throughout the country of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), which now has over 14,500 troops on the ground, as well as 1,090 civilian police officers; the demobilization of over 76,000 former fighters and the training of recruits for a new Liberian police service; efforts to extend State authority throughout the country and preparations for next year’s national elections.

“Much of this progress was due to the partnership that has been developed between the NTGL, ECOWAS, UNMIL and all members of the United Nations family, as well as the support of donors and humanitarian organizations, and the determination of the Liberian people to put an end to violence and ensure that peace prevails in their country,” the participants said in a communiqué adopted on Monday.

But they also expressed concern over the limited capacity of the NTGL to deliver basic services to the population, the continuing disputes over government posts, which have made it difficult for the Government to function effectively, and the continuing threats to the peace process from some members of former armed factions who are not fully committed to the peace agreement.

The participants included UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno, NTGL Chairman Charles Gyude Bryant and Ghanaian Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo representing the Chairman of ECOWAS.

In a related development the UN refugee agency yesterday began registering Liberian refugees in neighbouring Sierra Leone for a programme of assisted repatriation starting next month. Under the plan, some 100,000 Liberian refugees are expected to return home this year, either with Agency assistance or spontaneously. Another 154,000 could repatriate in 2005, followed by 65,000 in 2006.