Scott Family Fellows: Views From Liberia
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November 14, 2007
Liberia Fellows Application Period Now Closed
Posted by Rebecca Schutte at 03:12 PM
The period to submit applications for the Liberia Fellows or Liberian Law Fellows program has now ended. Thanks to everyone who applied! We received a total of 118 applications—29 for the Law fellows and 89 for the Liberia fellows program! The reviewers will start examining submissions ASAP and interviews should begin in two weeks. If you are not contacted for an interview or missed the application deadline, keep checking this site because we will be recruiting another batch of fellows in several months. In the meantime, you can continue reading blogs written by the fellows on their unique experiences working in the Liberian government. Stay tuned!
Ministry of Internal Affairs Moving to a Development Phase, Collaboration Among Partners Critical
Posted by Conor Hartman at 10:47 AM
I serve as special advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs in Liberia who is the head of local government (not internal security). Our team at the Ministry is moving from a humanitarian/emergency support phase to a development phase – described simply in the words of Dennis de Tray as shifting assistance from “doing for countries” to “helping countries do for themselves”. In this post-conflict setting, our Ministry has to deliver better services, more jobs and better opportunities for all citizens right now. Unfortunately, we can’t wait for institutions and the capabilities of civil servants to develop to the point where they can effectively handle the challenges ahead – in a post-conflict setting, the need to produce tangible, visible progress in a short time period is all the more important. The UN and other development partners have been filling critical gaps to meet the demands of today. What needs to be focused on is helping the government handle the challenges of tomorrow.
While I’ve heard many development veterans and experts talk about challenges of helping countries “do for themselves,” this is my first crack at working with the UN and other bi-lateral partners to make it happen. The Minister of Internal Affairs has made very clear that he wants all development partners to actively build the capacity of our ministry as they provide development assistance. In practice, this hasn’t happened in the way we had hoped for. There are multiple programs that are focused on capacity development at the county and district level, but a critical link is missing at the central ministry level.
In the central office, we are tasked with designing, planning and overseeing a large and challenging development agenda – but so much of the designing and planning happens outside of our office and in the offices of our international development partners (just a ten minute walk from the ministry, but a world away when it comes to day to day operations – we have only one Internet connection for the entire ministry at this point). With the UN separated from our staff in the Ministry we lose two things: the UN doesn’t benefit from our civil servants’ knowledge about Liberia – a very important aspect of making the programs work; and the Ministry doesn’t benefit from the project planning and management experience of our UN counterparts.
Our UN partners agree that more and better teamwork is needed, and now is the time to make it happen. We are self-evaluating all Ministry of Internal Affairs programs to see how we can do a better job of putting our employees in a collaborative work environment – all day, every day. The need for better partnership is one of those “lessons” that everyone seems to recognize but still no one acts on. With the leadership of the Minister of Internal Affairs, we are focused on ensuring that lessons learned are incorporated into the ministry’s development programs – more to come as we work through implementing these changes…
November 05, 2007
Institutionalizing Participatory Processes in Liberia
Posted by Conor Hartman at 05:06 PM
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is in Washington, D.C. today to accept the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, an extraordinary honor to deliver to a sitting head of state from another country. While she meets with President Bush to accept this award, Liberia’s ministers are actively working to open the doors of government to the people and to institutionalize the participatory processes we take for granted in the United States.
Liberia is developing its Poverty Reduction Strategy through open, participatory working groups organized under four key pillars (Security, Economic Revitalization, Governance and Rule of Law, and Infrastructure and Basic Services). Working groups comprise representatives from government, the private sector and civil society. The goals and objectives under the four pillars for the next three years are being debated and determined through this open dialogue involving all stakeholders who choose to participate.
The draft goals and objectives of the national strategy are now being debated at the county level (Liberia has 15 counties). Citizens are walking as much as 12 hours in the rural areas to reach these development agenda meetings. Even as the sun goes down and the meeting rooms fall dark, people continue to talk and express their hopes and dreams for a better life – it’s the first time they’ve had the opportunity to inform their leaders of what they want to see in their communities. There is tangible excitement and enthusiasm as people talk about their challenges and offer ideas about how to address them. The debates are open, honest and productive. It’s an extraordinary time in Liberia.
I wish everyone could sit in these meetings to feel the energy that exudes from people being heard by their government for the first time in many years. The Medal of Freedom is a fitting award for a transformative president who continues to lead a country to a better and freer future with greater opportunities for all Liberians.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Triumph for Liberia
Posted by Norris Tweah at 02:17 PM
Last Monday, October 29, our President, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, celebrated her 69th birthday. In her remarks to the gathered assembly of predominantly women, the President spoke of her leadership, the role of women, the country, a little about her life, and said something to the effect that this birthday was the one she’d remember best!
Today, November 5, exactly seven days after her birthday, at a time when the President could still be receiving belated birthday wishes, President George W. Bush will bestow upon her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This medal is the highest civilian honor bestowed upon an individual with a meritorious contribution to world peace and cultural, public or private service.
I suspect in the remarks she will deliver to the assembly, which will not be predominantly women, the President will again speak of her leadership, the role of women, the country, maybe a little more of her life, and say something that would precisely have the effect of immortalizing November 5, 2007 as a day our country will remember forever.
October 29 belongs exclusively to citizen Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; November 5 belongs to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the people of Liberia and the entire continent of Africa. As the first Liberian to get the Medal, the first West African, and the second African—Nelson Mandela received the Medal in 2002—Mrs. Sirleaf has been elevated on the same pedestal as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, and many others whose life-long commitment was to leave our world a better place than they inherited.
Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf is not quite half way through her first six year term as president, but judging from the leadership she has demonstrated through her government’s dedication to democratic principles, long-term economic vision, current road reconstruction projects, and more—has now thrust her as the presumptive frontrunner to become the greatest Liberian of the 21st century, if not in the history of the country.
One benefit of receiving such an honor is that it gives the recipient an added incentive to set their sights on the attainment of more noble goals. So better for Liberia that its president is chosen for this honor, as it would inevitably unleash a newfound commitment and enthusiasm toward ensuring that the country continues in the right direction.
What is equally worth mentioning is the other seven recipients of the Medal:
Gary S. Becker is a University of Chicago economic professor and a recipient of the Noble Prize in economics. As a graduate student, I had the privilege of studying Becker’s theory of human capital. More specifically, his theory that countries seeking upward mobility on the international division of labor ladder (Liberia included) should therefore invest in human capital rather than physical stock because investment in the former has a higher rate of return than investment in the latter. Perhaps Liberia can learn and apply some of this theory.
I was thrilled to learn that Brain P. Lamb, founder and Chairman of C-SPAN, a non-profit network financed by the cable industry, which features live and recorded public debate and discussion on politics and democracy in the U.S., will receive the Medal. According to a 1996 profile of Mr. Lamb in the Times, Mr. Lamb first conceived of the idea that there was a public who might sit still for long hours of watching politicians up close at work or play. I was that public.
As an undergraduate student in broadcast journalism and a devotee of C-SPAN, I watched this iconic broadcast journalist interview several prominent people, from presidents to political activists and holocaust survivors. In June, just before I left the U.S. for Liberia, I watched Mr. Lamb interview Michael Gerson, a former chief speech writer for President Bush. Gerson is said to have provided Bush with many powerful and lasting expressions, such as “the soft bigotry of low expectations”—a phrase Bush used in a speech to capture how stereotypical and prejudicial opinions can affect minority students.
In recognition of his advocacy for human rights and democracy in his native Cuba, the Presidential Medal of Freedom will also be bestowed upon Oscar Elias Biscet-Gonzalez, who is serving a twenty-five year prison sentence in Cuba for allegedly committing a crime against the sovereignty and integrity of the Cuban territory. In December, 2002, Dr. Biscet was arrested along with 11 other political dissidents for leading a petition drive for human freedom and was sentenced by the Cuban authority at the Combinado del Este Prison in Havana, Cuba.
Also receiving the Medal will be Francis S. Collins, whose contribution to genetic research has made tremendous breakthrough and expanded our insight and understanding of the human genome and human DNA.
Benjamin L. Hooks will receive the Medal for his advocacy and commitment toward the principle of equality, justice and freedom for all men and women. He was a pioneer of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
Nelle Harper Lee will be recognized for her contribution to the study of literature, in particular, for her best-selling novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960.
And Henry John Hyde, a former member of the US Congress, who represented the 6th District of Illinois from 1975 to 2006, will be honored for his commitment to freedom around the world. According to a press release, Mr. Hyde served America with distinction, especially during his career in the House where he became a powerful defender of life and a leading advocate for a strong national defense.
This year’s honorees all have a demonstrable track record of success, fortitude, and commitment at what they have done and continue to do to make our world a better place. Thus, President Bush’s decision to award the Medal is clearly vindicated by their exemplary service to all of humanity.
For Liberia, this is particularly important, given our history of bad leadership which did so well to represent our shame and disgrace rather than its pride and dignity. That our President is being recognized for helping to heal our country devastated by years of political and ethnic division should be seen not as a personal accomplishment for her, but as a national and collective triumph over the subculture of violence and destruction of the past 14 years.