Government considers CSOs as important partners for development, Actg. Min. Lawson

Acting Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning Patience Kollie-Lawson has said the government of Liberia considers civil society organizations as important partners for development, especially through the dissemination of information across the country.

Mrs. Patience Kollie Lawson spoke on Thursday, August 18, 2022, at the official opening of a Sub-Grant Administration lesson learned conference, organized by the Non-State Actors Secretariat (NSA) with support from World Bank and Partners in the city of Gompa, Nimba County.

The conference is intended to enhance knowledge sharing and learning in social accountability and transparency practices, as well as document best practices and challenges during the different stages of the sub-grant administration.                                       

It seeks to share and document experiences, good practices, lessons learned, and gaps in the sub-grant process to inform the revision of the sub-grant administrative manual.

According to Lawson, the government and civil society organizations acceded to the GoL-CSO accord which amongst other things required the government to support the design and implementation of CSO capacity development program by working with local, national and international organizations.

She indicated that over the years, the government has demonstrated its commitment to the accord by including civil society organizations and social accountability components in its public finance management reform agenda and establishing the non-state actor’s secretariat to manage the program.

“The government has demonstrated its commitment to this accord by the inclusion of civil society organizations and social accountability components’’ she added.

She noted that throughout the entire program, the government of Liberia with support from the international partners has consistently been strengthening the capacity of CSOs through the NSA sub-grant program, training and technical assistance, to ensure transparent, accountable and participatory management of public resources.

She revealed that the cardinal objective of public financial management, especially the national budget is to ensure fiscal discipline and we are committed to supporting you so you can play a critical watchdog role in society.

The conference brought together the acting Deputy Minister for Administration, Project Financial Management reforms coordinator, Project Management Unit representative, and thirty participants, including grantees from the just-ended sub-grant program.