Liberia: ‘Country Giant’ Shocked Opposition -Makes Liberia Case At UNGA

IPNews-Monrovia-Liberia-28 September 2018: What turn into a glorious day for Liberians , even though there were talks around town amongst opposition figures of President George Weah inability to properly articulate Liberia’s many constrains amidst the disappearance of nearly sixteen billion Liberia dollars.

Gladly, the Liberian leader mounted the podium stage putting Liberia’s agenda to the world in an exceptional grand style.

President George Manneh Weah, began firstly the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the United Nations family for its tremendous support to Liberia’s recovery from years of arm conflict to a more stable and investment ready country.

President Weah stated his administration’s programme’ Pro-poor Agenda for Development and Prosperity’, which is a  policy framework that gives priority to the alleviation of poverty, will be executed to the latter .

“This is not an agenda only for the poor; it is for the benefit of all Liberians. But it is policy framework that gives priority to the alleviation of poverty, and its core objective and focus is to reduce the marginalization of most vulnerable, whilst at the same time creating a conducive atmosphere for the middle and upper income Liberian to grow and prosper,” the Liberian leader stated.

President Weah further told the world gathering that through this agenda, his administration shall seek to build a harmonious society, based on the goal of economic empowerment, especially for the underprivileged; adding: “Our pro-poor agenda is therefore designed to give power to the people, promote economic diversification, protect sustainable peace and encourage good governance.”

Additionally, President Weah stated that the successful achievement of his agenda, is depended upon the collective desire of all including Liberians, its bilateral partners, and private investors to support the programmes of the Weah led administration.

Furthermore speaking, the President reminded the UNGA President, Madam María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés that his administration is acutely aware of the vulnerability of the country’s youthful population, who are clearly disadvantaged due to high unemployment, and a lack of access to quality education opportunities, which requires the assistance of friendly governments including the United Nations.

President Weah: “Our plan is to reverse their unfortunate situation and make them productive citizens through the provision of adequate educational facilities at the high school and college levels, for those who still have interest in pursuing academic programs.”

“The years 15 years of civil war in my country left behind young people who have outgrown their school years, due this critically situation, my administration is investing in technical vocational education and training programmes in order to build them into being entrepreneur and marketable for future endeavors.

The Liberian leader, being cognizant of the infrastructural importance and its impact on social and economic development, his regime has identified investment in roads, energy and ports as key priorities. In this line, he is soliciting funding and other technical expertise to undertake these projects in pursuit of this goal to connect cities and towns.

On alleviation of Poverty, the President highlighted the importance of agriculture which puts Liberia at a comparative advantage, has been identified as a major poverty-alleviation instrument; stressing : “It will lead us to self-sufficiency in food production and self-employment, as well as open doors for industrialization.”

He informed the assembly that he is going to use a new law on economic zoning , to attract labor-intensive light manufacturing.

On the Health Sector, the Liberian leader the general assembly that his administration, for the next five years, intends to efficiently and properly organize the healthcare delivery system in order to ensure that the health and wellbeing of Liberians is improved, especially looking back at the deadly Ebola virus disease outbreak in 2014.

“During the Ebola crisis, Liberia was the worst hit with aleast 5000 recorded deaths.” President George Weah stressed.

Touching on peace and Security, President said over the next five years, the government of Liberia will place emphasis on national security in order to enable Liberians and foreign nationals within its borders, move and live freely without fear.

“We like to thank the UN peacekeepers for the sacrifices made in securing and maintaining the peace and security in Liberia after a prolonged civil crisis .”

“Additionally, we thank members of the Security Council of the United Nations for allowing the deployment of the UNMIL Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia which brought stability and assisted us rebuilding our broken institutions and infrastructures. We are a peacekeeping success story and we are grateful for the support given.” President Weah emphasized.

President Weah continuing, warned that Liberia must never take peace for granted having experienced civil war and the long shadow that the years of conflict still cast over Liberians’ lives.

On the issue of peace dialogues over war crimes, President George M. Weah, highlighted the importance of continued ‘National Peace Dialogues,’ which the government of Liberia intends to initiate throughout the country, is probably preferred idea for the maintenance of peace and tranquility.

The President Weah indicated that frank exchanges are essential steps to bringing lasting healing reconciliation and unity to Liberia.

“Our agenda is not one of division, but rather, it is an agenda that intends to provide an enabling environment for a united people to be able to benefit and prosper from the economic dividends of peace,” The Liberian leader stressed.