March 28, 2006—  | President Johnson-Sirleaf welcomed by President Wolfowitz |
During her recent visit to the United States, and World Bank Headquarters in Washington, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, hailed the strong partnership Liberia enjoys with the World Bank, outlined some benchmarks for Liberia’s development goals, and urged women to strive for higher levels of responsibility and leadership. Pledging partnership President Johnson-Sirleaf met with World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, who pledged the Bank’s support for resolving the issue of Liberia’s debt to the Bank, and continued support for pre-arrears clearance. “We are very pleased with the strong support which we are receiving from the Bank and President Wolfowitz,” she said.  Mr. Wolfowitz also agreed to send a full country representative to Liberia to work with her government, and assured her of support in the preparation and hosting of a partnership meeting/donor conference later this year. “We admire what you and your colleagues are doing to build a new Liberia, and we at the World Bank are proud to be partners with you.” President Wolfowitz also said that the Bank would commit $25 million dollars to a fund for infrastructure development and roads construction in particular.
First steps in rebuilding In an interview with Bank staff, President Johnson-Sirleaf talked about some of her government’s goals, including restoring infrastructure and increasing student enrollments, particularly among the war affected youth. She plans to ensure that the 115,000 Liberian ex-combatants, who are primarily young people, are enrolled in school and vocation training, and where possible, in jobs. President Johnson-Sirleaf also emphasized the importance of a solid level of growth. “Talking about 8 percent growth―not enough—we would like to see it much higher, coming from a lower base,” she said. Women at the helm 
| Meeting with the Liberian Delegation |
Asked about her advice to women working in international institutions, President Johnson-Sirleaf encouraged women to “continue to strive for higher levels of position of responsibility and leadership.” She added, “That requires a lot of diligence and commitment to duty as well as networking to create systems that share information.” President Johnson-Sirleaf promised to use her position to support this process, “Those of us in leadership roles have to keep pressing the top leadership of these institutions to practice what they preach, not just talk about placing women in positions.” As an example she pointed to the United Nations: “They must put 30 percent [of women] within their own ranks, and so we will be making that point constantly to them.” She praised women as vibrant forces in Liberia’s economy. Working towards the future President Sirleaf-Johnson looks forward to a productive collaboration with the World Bank. “The Bank is already a very strong partner with Liberia and is helping us in some of our infrastructure work and the review of some of the concession agreement that will lead to better management of our own resources. We hope they will now be able to help us develop a strategy to achieve our development goals.” |
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