The embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Liberia has held the first event of the dialogue events to consolidate peace, stability and development in Liberia, under the theme, “Strengthened Development Cooperation for Sustainable Result”.
The dialogue was jointly launched by the German embassy in Liberia and ECOWAS in October, with the Chinese embassy in Liberia hosting the first event of a series of dialogues at the multifunctional hall of the Chinese embassy on December 15, 2022.
At the event, the Chinese Ambassador, H.E Ren Yisheng, briefly elaborated on development and its importance to peace and stability, shared China’s development experience and exchanged views on how to strengthen development cooperation for sustainable results in Liberia.
Ambassador Yisheng said economic development usually includes three aspects: enhancement of economic prosperity, improvement of the people’s livelihood and strengthening overall national strength.
According to him, to eliminate poverty or to reduce inequality is to create employment or opportunities to promote the establishment of cooperative roles for civil societies, the elderly and aging, and the youth and disabled.
Ambassador Yisheng said for millions of men women and children living in the least developed countries, development is one of the most urgent human rights tasks for government.
Marking remarks at the occasion, H.E. Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, Vice President of the Republic of Liberia, said the fight against COVID-19 is being trivialized, and that security instruments used to strengthen efforts must be shared responsibility.
Vice President Howard-Taylor said Liberia’s foreign policy claims mutual respect, noting that development effort is atop the government’s agenda. “The time to give fish to Liberia and Africa continent must come to an end,” she stated.
According to her, the continent and Liberia must be given the opportunities to explore and partnership must be directed into capacity building and not aid.
For his part, Minister of Internal Affairs, Varney Ali Sirleaf, said Liberia cannot be peaceful if government fails to look at several pillows, as there can be no genuine reconciliation in the face of abject poverty across the country.
At the same time, Assistant Minister for Afro-Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Naomi Gray, said Liberia is a postwar country which experienced a collapsed economy, destroyed infrastructure and the loss of lives, among others.
She said Liberia’s focus now becomes “the need to address the daunting challenges of our economic recovery, as the development of human rights”.