The Liberia Macroeconomic Policy Analysis Center (LIMPAC) at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning with support from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has certificated a total of 54 staff representing various government entities.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Finance Tuesday, 16 October, the government employees that received certificates were taken from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI).
They were certificated after successfully partaking in the second phase of the capacity building training program.The MFDP release notes that the second training cycle which lasted over the period of six weeks focuses on the usage of state modern statistical programming and modeling package, MS-Word for report writing, Ms. Excel for data calculation and analysis as well as Advanced Excel.
Addressing the audience, MFDP Assistant Minister for Development Planning, Benedict Kolubah, states that one major goal of government’s pro – poor agenda is the enhancement of the professional skills of government employees.According to Minister Kolubah, the pro – poor agenda has two major goals which include providing greater income skills for one million Liberians and lifting nearly 33 percent of the Liberian population out of poverty within a five –year period.
Minister Kolubah further mentions the building of capable state institutions that are trusted to provide effective and efficient services to the people across the nation.He emphasizes the need to measure the impact of the capacity building processes in Liberia, noting that over the years, capacity building has been a lip service.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of LIMPAC, Del-Franc is Wreh says the main goal of LIMPAC’s Capacity Building Project is to improve the capacity of government employees in data analysis to support macroeconomic policy formulation, analysis, and strengthen the overall management process of government.
According to Director Wreh, a robust data analysis for workforce across government institutions will maximize efficiency and productivity.Director Wreh adds that the current working environment requires that employees should be computer literate to understand data and statistical analyses to improve the quality of their reports to senior managements across the public sectors.
The LIMPAC head recalls that the first cycle graduated 80 trainees while the second cycle is graduating an initial 54 staff.According to LIMPAC, additional 20 staff will be evaluated for certification and graduation based upon the recommendation of their instructor, who is currently on official duty outside of Liberia.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]
Executive Director Del-Francis Wreh explains that 27 of the 54 graduates are females and reveals that Advanced Excel and State were added to the course list in second cycle.Meanwhile, Mr. Wreh announces that the third cycle circular has been sent around, narrating that cycle three will include MS-Access and MS-PowerPoint in addition to the Stata statistical package, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Word which were offered under cycle 1 and 2.
He cautions the graduates to go beyond the knowledge acquired in the training lab and challenges them to do constant practices to continuously improve their skills. LIMPAC is a specialized unit within the Ministry of Finance that has responsibility for policy analysis, research and training of public officials in macroeconomic related issues in Liberia.
The Center, which is funded by the Government of Liberia and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) conducts policy researches and provides advisory services to the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance.These services are in addition to implementing capacity building training activities established in 1991.
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF’s) mission is to build sustainable human and institutional capacity for sustainable growth, poverty reduction and economic transformation in Africa.
The ultimate goal is to improve the lives and prospects of people throughout the African Continent.–Press release
