Africa-Press – Liberia. The European Union (EU) Delegation to Liberia has held a one-day strategic partnership dialogue meeting with civil society actors to discuss ways to enhance their service delivery and promote the development of Liberia.
The meeting, which took place on April 5th at a resort in Monrovia, was focused on developing an action plan for Civil Society organizations that emphasizes learning, challenges, opportunities for engagement, and the importance of being a strong voice that can influence change and accountability for an improved system.
The dialogue was facilitated by Mercy Corps and Kvinna till Kvinna as part of the Supporting Effective Advocacy in Liberia (SEAL) program, funded by the European Union, with co-financing from the Swedish Embassy and Irish Aid.
The event was well attended by several civil society actors, including community-based organizations and the National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL), with the aim of strengthening organizational and collective efforts that have promoted good governance and a vibrant civic sector in the country.
Sophie Dresser, Mercy Corps Program Performance and Quality Manager highlighted the purpose of the engagement and expressed her institution’s pride in partnering with CSOs to continue such dialogues, recognizing their importance in promoting good governance and holding the government accountable.
The Head of the EU Delegation to Liberia, Laurent Delahousse, encouraged an enhanced capacity of Liberian CSOs to become more relevant, effective, and legitimate actors in their engagement on democratic governance and sustainable development.
The forum also gave civil society organizations and development partners an opportunity to discuss how to best solve the pressing problems they face, including sustainability, limited institutional and technological competence, access to capital, excessively bureaucratic procedures to manage outside funding, and a constrained operational environment.
Moreover, the EU Gender Action Plan for 2021–2025 was discussed at the event, which adopts a three-pronged strategy to achieve its goal of a gender-equal world: gender mainstreaming, targeted initiatives, and political dialogue.
The Swedish Ambassador to Liberia and Sierra Leone, Urban Sjostrom, urged civil society actors to take the dialogue seriously, recognizing the importance of the October 10 general and presidential elections and the need to reflect on progress made in the last 20 years since the Accra Peace Agreement was signed.
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