A team from the Finance and Development Planning Minister has met with the Diplomatic Corps, led by UN Resident Coordinator Christine N. Umutoni, to discuss the impact of the USAID aid freeze and measures the government is implementing to address the situation.
The meeting was also attended by the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Cameroonian Ambassador, Augustine Gang, as well as the Ambassadors of the US, EU, Germany, Nigeria, and Ghana, among many others.
The aid cut/freeze, however, presents a significant challenge for Liberia, which depends on international aid for development.
The Finance Deputy Minister for Economic Management, Dehpue Zuo’s remarks highlighted the growing effects of the freeze, while Augustine Ngafuan emphasized the need for continued partnerships with international donors and stressed that strong support from Liberia’s bilateral and multilateral partners was key in enabling Liberia to address those crises.
Minister Ngafuan also expressed confidence that Liberia will overcome this challenge, citing past crises like the 2008/2009 global food, fuel and financial crisis, the Ebola outbreak, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that expenditure rationalization and robust domestic resource mobilization are the key measures the government is implementing to address the crises, noting that as the situation evolves, the government will be taking further proactive and reactive measures to mitigate the impact of the shock.
Minister Ngafuan stated that the government will be intervening to continue some critical interventions in health and education that the USAID aid cut will affect and called on scale-up support from other partners to assist or complement the government’s response.
Ngafuan informed the meeting that the government will provide further updates to partners in the coming weeks and that the government, with, support from the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and UNDP, is planning a Partners Roundtable at the end of March 2025 to further discuss the USAID aid and support to the ARREST AGENDA for Inclusive Development (AAID).
Meanwhile, the Diplomatic Corps, including Ambassadors from Cameroon, Nigeria, the EU, Germany, the UK, and UN Women, reaffirmed their support for Liberia during this difficult time, while the European Union Ambassador announced that the EU would provide support to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to observe the Nimba By-election.
Support for election observation in Liberia was one of the areas of USAID support to Liberia that has been affected by President Trump’s recent aid cut, as the ambassadors asserted that their countries will stand with Liberia in thick and thin.