Background
Liberia has transitioned from a country in need of emergency humanitarian assistance to one with government ownership of the development process. To ensure that its management of aid and relationships with development partners supports its long-term development objectives, the Government of Liberia (GoL) has engaged ACET to formulate and assist in implementing a national aid policy. The Liberia Aid Policy aims to articulate the GoL’s priorities and guiding principles on the mobilization and management of aid to Liberia, based on the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action.
Task
Support GoL in developing an overarching aid policy and assist in the implementation of that policy.
Challenges
Aid management is typically hindered by the following:
- Organizational Capacity: Deficient staff skill sets and weak institutional mechanisms undermine the planning, coordination and implementation of aid.
- Alignment: Some donors promote their own agendas and others, particularly non-governmental organizations, execute projects outside of GoL priorities.
- Unpredictability: Slow decision-making and lengthy procedures create financing gaps.
- Fragmentation: Most aid is allocated with only limited central coordination by GoL, leading to significant inefficiencies.
- Transaction Cost: The onerous procedures of aid application, disbursement and coordination stretches the GoL’s limited resources.
- Aid Flow Information: Transparency and accountability in delivery of assistance has been inadequate due to poor reporting.
These challenges are exacerbated by unclear articulation of policies, procedures and roles.
Findings/Recommendations
ACET worked with GoL to design an aid policy that clearly articulates GoL’s position on type of external assistance, alignment to government priorities, harmonization across development partners, country ownership and use of country systems.
The policy establishes an Aid Management Unit (AMU) to act as the locus of all data on aid and serves as a secretariat for the Aid Management Committee, which will be co-chaired by the Minister of Finance and Minister of Planning & Economic Affairs.
Following an extensive consultative process with GoL ministries and development partners, the new policy was approved by the country’s Cabinet, paving the way for its implementation. ACET is working with GoL to develop a detailed implementation plan, which ACET will also support in executing.
