Minister Konneh Calls for strengthening of workforce to spark Liberia's economic growth

Thursday, 28th January 2010

The severity of Liberia’s capacity constraints is currently constraining her progress in implementing the Government’s Development Agenda under the Poverty Reduction Strategy, otherwise known as Lift Liberia program.

Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, Amara Konneh emphasized that in order to make progress Liberia needs more leaders, skilled workers, motivated and experienced professionals, adding that the post-war country is in the position to create those leaders and professionals. 

Minister Konneh, who addressed Liberian students and other community youth at the opening ceremony of the two-day National Career Fair on Thursday (January 27, 2010) at the SKD Sports Complex called for the strengthening of Liberia’s workforce in all sectors – especially in the industries that have the potential to spark economic growth in Liberia, such as agriculture, infrastructure development, telecommunications, etc.

The National Career Fairs, the first to be held in Liberia, aimed to support Liberian Youth in capitalizing on their educational opportunities to have good chances for employment upon graduation.

The theme of the Career Fair was "Personal Pathways to Success" and encouraged students to seek information and guidance on job opportunities in the labor market when deciding on their course of study. The Fair concluded Friday, 29th of January at the same venue.

Minister Konneh believed that while it is true that Liberia has major challenges with both human and institutional capacity, “we do have some capacity in the country. We have capacity assets in Liberia, and we must build on what we have. The limited capacity we do have must be further developed and scaled-up very aggressively.”

He noted that more importantly, Liberia has a lot of potential capacity in Liberia. “We have young people, who are looking to develop the right skills and expertise to contribute to society and earn a decent living. “

He challenged the youth to utilize their potential to be a capacity asset; and asset to their family, their community and country, and maybe to the global community. He believes the Government of Liberia should afford the Liberian youth the opportunities to receive quality education and training and access to job opportunities.

From the perspective of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, Minister Konneh sees the Career Fair as good initiative to build capacity in Liberia and suggested it should be an annual event. 

Ministry of Planning Developing National Capacity Development Strategy

There are many initiatives for capacity building going on all over the country, Minister Konneh noted. “We need to coordinate these efforts and make sure that we are all moving in the same direction. So, I am pleased to announce that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs is developing a National Capacity Development Strategy for Liberia to provide the direction forward for our capacity development agenda and to provide an operational platform to coordinate all of this good work.”

The Government of Liberia is interested in supporting students in selecting paths of study and employment that are currently in demand in the Liberian workforce to ensure that students have better chances of finding employment and employers have better chances in hiring skilled workers.
 
The two-day event targeted high school seniors (Thursday the 28th) and college freshmen and sophomores (Friday 29th) and provided a forum for students to directly engage Minister Konneh, other officials of government at the function as well as with employers. The students listened to the presentations from key Ministries about job opportunities across multiple sectors and industries. Many employers set-up information booths outside of Samuel K.  Doe Sports Complex.
 
Supporting young people in investing in their education and job preparation is a key priority for the Government of Liberia’s National Employment Policy and the National Capacity Development Strategy. The National Capacity Development Unit, located at MoPEA, and the National Employment Office, located at MoL organized the Fair.

(see pictures from the Career Fair)
 
The Career Fair was sponsored by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Ministry of Education, with additional support from USAID.

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