Gender Minister Wilhelmina Saydee – Tarr says the vulnerable and poorest population here remains the foremost concern of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led – government. Speaking at a one – day round table discussion with media practitioners on the outcome of Liberia Social Safety Nets Project (LSSN) over the weekend in Sinkor, Madam Tarr explained that the CDC government’s development agenda talks about power to the people and ending poverty.
“Our recent cash transfer process to Maryland and Grand Kru Counties is part of the government’s national response efforts to affording citizens the opportunity to do something for themselves,” she says.She furthers that the government’s decision to begin with Maryland and Grand Kru Counties was as a result of a survey conducted which puts the two counties among the poorest counties in the country.
According to Madam Tarr, the government wants to ensure that the poor people have the opportunity to have a better living, leading the administration to begin the cash transfer to the two counties.
She notes that in the soonest possible time, the government will be extending the process to two additional counties which include River Gee and Bomi Counties. She says the cash transfer project is not basically about dishing out money to people, but it is meant to motivate those in the remote parts of the country by giving them something to start up a little business.
She notes that it is also intended to reawaken their dreams and aspirations that they can stand on their own even when the project comes to a close. In an overview, the Program Manager of the Social Registry Project Shadrach S. Gbokie says the objective of project is to establish the key building block of a basic national safety net delivery system, and provide income support to households who are both extremely poor and food insecure in Liberia.
According to him, one of the three components is to strengthen the national social safety net system and finance the development of social registry. He continues that the second component is the cash transfer to extremely poor and food insecure households.
He discloses that the project will provide income support to about 10,000 extremely poor and food insecure households in Liberia through regular cash transfer and accompanying measures. He says this component is being implemented in Maryland, Grand Kru and it will soon be implemented in River Gee and Bomi Counties.
Additionally, the Social Registry Program Manager notes that the third component of the project is focusing on project management and capacity building. He concludes that the objective of this component is to finance project management and capacity building of the Liberia Social Safety Net project which is being implemented by the ministry.
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By Lewis S. Teh–Edited by Winston W. Parley
