A donors conference seeking almost 500 million dollars for the next two years to help Liberia rebuild from its devastating 14-year-long civil war opened Thursday at United Nations Headquarters in New York with speakers calling for generous pledges to help the nation – and the West African region – get on the track to stability and recovery.
The meeting was a “critical milestone” in the countrys journey from crisis to recovery, offering a chance “to help achieve a real and lasting peace dividend” for Liberians, Mark Malloch Brown, chair of the UN Development Group (UNDG), which organized the two-day International Conference on the Reconstruction of Liberia, said in his opening address.
He recalled the signing in August of the peace accord that brought an end to 14 years of conflict and led to the international effort to help Liberians recover from the ruinous effects of war. The conference, he added, was a “crucial opportunity to help stablize (the West Africa) region that has inevitably been affected by spill-over.”
– But it is a fragile peace and urgent action is now needed to help ensure that the gains that have been made towards Liberias recovery are not reversed, said Mr. Malloch Brown, who is also Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
A team comprising representatives from the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Liberian transitional government has been working for the past two months to prepare a report for the Conference assessing the countrys needs.
According to that report, an estimated 488 million dollars in assistance will be required for priorities ranging from demobilizing combatants, some as young as 12, and helping them return home, get schooling and find jobs, to organizing elections in 2005, rebuilding roads, restoring electricity, reopening schools and health clinics, and stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.
That figure is in addition to about 180 million dollars requested for Liberia in November by the UN as part of its consolidated appeal for all of its humanitarian activities worldwide.
Thursdays session was devoted to technical discussions, while the second day will hear contribution pledges. Participants on the second day will include UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Secretary of State Colin Powell of the United States, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin of France, Chairman Gyude Bryant of the National Transitional Government of Liberia, and the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Liberia, Jacques Paul Klein.
Kilde: FNs Nyhedstjeneste
