Lift Liberia PRS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is this Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS)?
As the name suggests, these are series of actions or strategies that the Government of Liberia is taking to help reduce poverty in Liberia. Government is leading the efforts but our development partners, NGOs, and private citizens are fully involved with implementation.

2. What is the difference between the PRS and Lift Liberia?
They are one and the same. Since the PRS is the generic name given to the set of strategies designed to reduce poverty, Liberians from all over the country were asked to suggest a name that could capture the intent of the development agenda. Through a competitive naming competition to brand Liberia’s unique PRS, the name “Lift Liberia” was selected by the President and Cabinet from a list of over 300 entries.

3. What is the timeframe for Lift Liberia to be implemented?
The time frame to fully implement Lift Liberia is three years: April 2008 –June 2011. Within this timeframe, nearly 485 separate interventions would have been completed thus setting the foundation upon which future economic growth and development strategies can be built.

In August 2008, findings from the Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) showed that Liberians, depending on where they live (rural vs. urban) have a slightly different perception of poverty. Those in the rural area see the lack of material things, the lack of roads, and lack of access to markets as three of the factors that make one poor. On the other hand, urban dwellers see lack of jobs, low income, and high housing costs as factors of poverty.

Please see the Liberia Participatory Poverty Assessment report for details.

5. How will Lift Liberia make anyone better off?
The logic of Lift Liberia is that the Liberian Government, along with its partners, will take certain steps or actions either in the form of policy reform or construction of infrastructure and then Liberians will utilize the policies or infrastructure to lift themselves out of poverty. For example, Government will rehabilitate or construct farm-to-market roads and Liberians will be expected to make farms and use the roads to take their produce to market and sell.

6. Is Lift Liberia intended to make some people rich and others poor?
No. Lift Liberia is intended to create conditions and policies that every Liberian can utilize to better their lives. No one is going to receive money from Government under the Lift Liberia scheme. Roads, schools, and health facilities will be built to benefit everyone. In some cases, laws will be passed to protect some vulnerable groups and in other cases, policies will be put in place to make things better and easier. Every Liberian is encouraged to utilize these services for the betterment of their lives.

7. When Lift Liberia is fully implemented, what should Liberians expect?
When Lift Liberia is fully implemented, Liberians should see constructed roads, more schools and health facilities, the return of public electricity, an increase in the supply of safe drinking water, etc. But more than anything, there will be a conducive business and investment climate; robust financial management systems; pragmatic legislation and policies; and stronger public institutions.

8. How will Lift Liberia make anyone better off?
When fully implemented, Lift Liberia will be the foundation upon which future growth and development strategies will be based. The infrastructure and basic services component of the strategy is intended to provide immediate relief to the citizens of Liberia by improving road conditions, increasing accessibility to healthcare and sanitation, and making education affordable and accessible. These are the components that the public will see and utilize immediately. There are also components of the strategy that are closely related to policies and legislation that policies. Unless Liberia changes those laws or puts in place enabling policies and legislation, growth and development will be a distant dream. Also, the country’s institutions are weak and need to revamped and strengthened. There are many interventions under Lift Liberia that seek to address these challenges and put Liberia country back on track. For example, there has been no public financial management law that directs how to manage public finances. Lift Liberia has identified this and has implemented it as one of the interventions for the Ministry of Finance.

9. Is Lift Liberia just another World Bank or IMF requirement?
No! Lift Liberia is more than a requirement. If you followed the PRS process in Liberia or even take time to read the document, it will become clear that Liberians developed the plan. In a series of participatory and consultative processes, Liberians from every village, town, district and county listed their priorities and those are the ones reflected in the three year development agenda. There may be challenges to implementation given Liberia’s capacity and resource constraints, but the ideals articulated in the plans are truly Liberians’. The challenge is to ensure that they are fully implemented.

10. What role should ordinary Liberians play in the implementation of Lift Liberia?
Every Liberian has the right and responsibility to actively participate in the implementation of the nation’s development agenda. Not only should Liberians make full use of the benefits of the PRS, they should get involved at the community level with implementation and monitoring. The first thing is to know and understand what Lift Liberia is supposed to deliver in your community and then engage with Government and partners to ensure that those benefits are delivered. Citizens also need to be proactive in this process. For example, if a school or health center is to be constructed in your community, you need to make sure that all standards and requirements are met and that the project is implemented with full participation of your community. Also, if a legislation or policy reform will affect you adversely, you are to speak out and make sure your concerns are addressed before those laws or policies are finalized.

11. After Lift Liberia, what next?
After Lift Liberia, the logical next step will be to engage in another round of long term planning. In fact, one of the interventions under the PRS is to begin thinking about “nation visioning”. The first step to success for any individual, organization, or country is to plan and then try to follow that plan. Liberia is preparing to do just that – engage in long term planning for the future.