Liberia was Africa’s first republic, colonized in 1822 and declared independent in 1847. It is also home to Africa’s first female president: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. I met with her this week at the Executive Mansion in Monrovia during a ONE listening and learning trip. And while this was not our first encounter, I was particularly thrilled to be meeting her with ONE’s new chief executive officer, Michael Elliot, who was visiting Liberia for the first time.
At ONE, we strongly believe that for poor rural populations throughout Africa, smart investments in agriculture are key to reducing poverty, building viable livelihoods and accessing affordable food. Meeting with President Sirleaf Johnson was a great opportunity to find out how committed Liberia’s president is to agriculture development.
Debt relief under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative from all Liberia’s creditors was estimated at US$ 2.7 billion in end-June 2007 present value terms. Debt relief from the IMF would total US$730 million—the IMF’s biggest ever HIPC contribution for a single country—and from the World Bank’s IDA, US$374 million.
After reaching the HIPC completion point, Liberia also becomes eligible for further nominal debt reduction from IDA (US$66.9 million) and the African Development Bank (US$17.2 million) under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and beyond-HIPC assistance from the IMF (SDR117.4 million or US$173 million) and the EU Special Debt Relief Initiative (US$0.9 million).
As a result of this relief, Liberia will no longer face a heavy debt service burden in relation to its revenue and foreign exchange resources.
The Boards determined that Liberia has taken the necessary policy actions to reach the completion point, and therefore debt relief from both the HIPC Initiative and MDRI becomes irrevocable. Liberia has successfully implemented its poverty reduction strategy and maintained a stable macroeconomic environment, despite the global economic crisis.
“We welcome the concerted efforts made by Liberia to obtain this debt relief—this will help attract new investment and generate much needed opportunities,” said Chris Lane, IMF mission chief for Liberia. “Liberia can now mobilize additional resources to rebuild the road network and the electricity supply system, providing the infrastructure needed to allow economic growth, while continuing to expand the health care and education systems. Liberia will also be able to further develop its own financial market and channel private savings to productive uses. We wish to acknowledge the efforts by the international community to finance Liberia’s debt relief, with over 100 members of the IMF making exceptional contributions beyond the normal terms granted to heavily indebted poor countries.”
President Barack Obama lauded the “heroism” of Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday, saying her commitment to democracy stood as an example for other troubled African nations.
Obama met Sirleaf in the Oval Office, and pledged the United States would stand with Liberia at every step of the way of its democratic development.
“I have been an extraordinary admirer of her work for many years now…. The United States and Liberia are close friends, longstanding partners, and Liberia is now emerging from a very difficult period,” Obama said.
“Part of the reason it has been able to emerge is because of the heroism and courage of President Sirleaf.”
“She is committed to the rule of law, made strides in reforming the judiciary and in all these endeavors I want to make sure the people of Liberia understand… that the United States is a constant friend and partner.”
Obama said Sirleaf’s example should be taken as inspiration to other African nations including, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Niger.
Sirleaf said her country had made important progress, and she thanked Obama for his and America’s support.
Africa’s first elected female head of state, Sirleaf said that she would not hide the fact that Liberia had challenges, but added that all basic freedoms were alive in her country today.
“We said that we were going to make Liberia rise again. I come today on behalf of the Liberian people to say that we have made a lot of progress,” she said.
Today, May 14th, marks Liberia’s National Unification Day, a holiday on which Liberians recognize the years of civil strife within Liberia and rededicate themselves to the ideals upheld by the Unification Act which promotes unity of all Liberians regardless of tribe or clan, section, creed or economic status. An advocacy group dedicated to promoting a united Liberia, One Liberia (unrelated to ONE.org though aptly named), has launched a campaign around National Unification Day to encourage Liberians to embrace their diversity and promote understanding among all Liberians via a unity pledge. As a part of this campaign, One Liberia requested and received statements addressing the theme of national unity in Liberia from prominent individuals, including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
“It is very important for us to not only celebrate this day but to promote unification in everything that we do because of what our nation has experienced through the many years of conflict that divided us. We found in recent years ethnic strife, religious strife – some of it stemming from historical problems, some of it stemming from more recent problems relating to land ownership, but we must now make sure that we begin to rekindle what national unification stands for; that spirit, that commitment to bring our people together as one nation, one people, with one destiny.” – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
You can listen to all of President Sirleaf’s statement, sign the Unification Day pledge and learn more about One Liberia on their website.
In yesterday’s edition of The Globe and Mail (guest-edited by ONE co-founder Bono and ONE activist Bob Geldof), Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has an excellent piece on good government and aid effectiveness in Africa. In it she argues that “African governments and, crucially, their development partners too, must continue demonstrating equal commitment to the leadership and accountability that are making a difference”.
Below is a short excerpt– you can read the full column here:
We have hope for a brighter, more prosperous future, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting the Liberian economy to grow strongly in the years to come.
Liberia’s recent transition to better government is very apparent, but not unique in Africa. Across the continent, there are more democratically elected administrations, increased human rights, greater press freedoms, increasing standards of accountability. Regional examples of best practices include Ghana and Botswana.
Of course, the situation is not perfect, and there is much more to do. Elections are necessary, but not sufficient for fully accountable government. We still must do more to support our institutions, to increase capacity and to strengthen the pillars of good government, such as our judicial systems.
However, with the support of the international community, advances in good governance have helped create the conditions for real and meaningful improvements in the lives of millions of people across the continent – with the World Bank reporting that poverty rates are falling, from 58 to 51 per cent across the continent in just six years.
As the systems of democracy, transparency and accountability are strengthened, as their capacity improves, African nations will increasingly acquire the technical skills to take ownership of their development policies, just as my government worked with the National Legislature and our citizens to draw up a poverty reduction strategy as a blueprint for a better nation.
While at a press conference with Secretary Clinton on Wednesday, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf—the first democratically elected female President in Africa—noted the importance of U.S. aid to her country. In response to a reporter’s question (directed towards Secretary Clinton) about the effectiveness of U.S. aid, Sirleaf remarked:
“Secretary Clinton, let me not let that impression go unaddressed. It is not correct to say that U.S. aid has not had an impact. If you look at where we were two and a half years ago and you look at the development today under each of our four pillars in the poverty reduction strategy, you see roads being constructed…you see farms starting to operate again.”
Liberia’s four poverty reduction strategies are: consolidating peace and security, revitalizing the economy, strengthening governance and the rule of law, and rebuilding infrastructure and delivering basic services.
To read the full remarks from the press conference, click here.
To read more African SMART Aid success stories, click here.
The State Department has announced that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will “travel to Africa next week on a seven-nation tour aimed at highlighting the Obama administration’s commitment to the continent.” Clinton plans to visit 7 countries including Kenya, South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde.
You can read more details of the trip here. We’ll bring further news as it develops.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
