The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) on Thursday May 18, 2023 ended a one advocacy workshop for inter-faith leaders in Monrovia with participants calling on the government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) to be transparent and open in expending funding from international partners.
The religious leaders drawn mainly from the Muslim and Christian religions lamented that government normally announces when credits and grants are approved by international partners but usually fail to update the Liberian people on the usage of these funds.
The participants bemoaned the lack of basic social services and essential medicines in public medical facilities across the country which is contributing to urban migration, increased crime rate and morbidity.
The one-day workshop is part of a campaign being carried by the JPC with support from Caritas Africa and Jubilee USA as part of a wider African effort promoting Inclusive Economy Recovery in Africa during the post COVID-19 pandemic era.
The project being simultaneously implemented in Ghana, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria and Togo is campaigning for richer and developed countries with huge Special Drawing Rights (SDR) holdings to re-allocate some of their holdings to poorer African countries being weighed down by bi-lateral and multi-lateral debts alleviate some of the burden.
Though the World Health Organization (WHO) recently downgraded the COVID-19 pandemic risks, however, it has had devastating impact on economies of countries around the world especially poorer ones which economies have been experiencing negative growths.
The one-day event drilled the participants in understanding advocacy and the development of Advocacy Strategies with emphasis on IMF Extended credit facility through the SDR portfolio.
