Monrovia, April 18, 2013, 2013: The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) has received funding from the German Development Corporation (GIZ) to organize a major debate amongst high schools in Montserrado County. The project is part of LEITI’s efforts to provide increased access to the public on the management of Liberia’s extractive resources. 

The grant agreement was signed on today at the LEITI Secretariat in Monrovia, with Mr. Samson S. Tokpah, Head of the LEITI Secretariat signing for the LEITI and Juliane Weymann, Advisor of the GIZ Regional Resource Governance Project in West Africa, signing on behalf of her institution.

The project, the Secretariat says, will be a two-day event, comprising of a symposium and debate. The debate will take the form of a ‘knockout’ competition in which students from the ten high schools currently participating in the LEITI e-Club (Extractive Club) program will engage one another in arguments on issues around the extractive sectors, while the symposium will enable students to listen to practical discourses on transparency and accountability in the natural resource management to be delivered by selected experts. Winners of the competition will be awarded various prizes including certificates of participation, medals and internship at the LEITI Secretariat. The proposed participating high schools include B.W. Harris, St. Teresa’s Convent,  G.W. Gibson and W.V.S. Tubman. Others are Jimmy Jolocon, Haywood Mission Institute, Len Millar, Isaac David and Caver Mission. 

This program, the Secretariat says, will primarily increase citizens’ participation in the resource debate and ensure that national policies and decisions increasingly reflect their views and concerns, especially young people who constitute a greater majority of the population and whose future would be determined by those decisions. The debates are expected to be held mid May 2013.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, LEITI Head of Secretariat, Samson S. Tokpah said, the LEITI is the first country to have introduced such youth development program in the global EITI Community, followed by Trinidad and Granada, and lately, Nigeria. He said this further confirms the LEITI record as a pace setter in the EITI implementation. 

Mr. Tokpah further expressed gratitude to the GIZ Family, noting, the gesture does not only confirm the German Government’s passion to support the LEITI, but also shows its strong commitment to supporting peace and development in Liberia. Reflecting on the many support the GIZ has been providing the Secretariat recently, Mr. Tokpah named the GIZ funding towards the hosting of a similar debate program last year; the creation of the LEITI Resource Center; and the e-Club  Program amongst others. “We are aware that the many gains the LEITI has made over the past years would not have been possible without the contributions of partners such as the GIZ, African Development Bank and others”, Mr. Tokpah concluded. 

In response, Juliane Weymann, Advisor of the GIZ Regional Resource Governance Project in West Africa, pledged her institution’s continuous support to the LEITI process even beyond the “Validation” Process. The LEITI goes to Validation in 2014, a kind of assessment that will determine whether or not Liberia can retain its EITI complaint status.

The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) is an autonomous agency established through an Act of the Legislature, to promote the transparent management of Liberia’s extractive resources. It is a tripartite arrangement governed by a Multi-stakeholders Steering Group (MSG), consisting of representatives of the Government of Liberia, civil society organizations, the private sector, and Liberia’s development partners.

Background
The Head of Secretariat received an invitation from the World Bank in March 2013 to serve as a panelist at the Annual World Bank Land and Poverty Conference, Washington DC, scheduled for April 8-11, 2013. The invitation was outlined in the Secretariat Update at the February and March 2013 MSG meetings with no objection noted.

Conference
While the general theme of theme conference was Moving Towards Transparent Land Governance, the Head of Secretariat was asked to serve as one of the panelists on the session titled: Closing the accountability loop: Towards sustainable mechanisms for transparence and participation. The Head of Secretariat provided insights on the LEITI experience around “the emerging trend towards increased disclosure in the land sector, particularly with respect to large-scale land acquisitions, and the opportunities and challenges that this poses for both governments and investors”. Given that Liberia includes agriculture under its EITI scope, the conference organizers was excited to hear the Liberia story around commercial agriculture. The session was chaired/moderated by Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President, World Bank.

Panelists include:

1. Hugette Labelle, Chair, Transparency International - Increasing Access to Information to Hold Governments and Investors Accountable
   
2. Nirarta Samadhi, President Delivery Unit, Government of Indonesia - Increasing Transparency and Accountability in Large-Scale Investments: Lessons Learned from Indonesia’s Moratorium in New Forestry and Oil Pam Investments
   
3. Tom Langan, Vice President, Unilever Transparency and Good Governance of Agriculture Investments: Perspectives from an Industry Leader
   
4. Samson Tokpah, Head of Secretariat, Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) - Increasing the Transparency of commercial Agriculture: Lessons Learned from the Liberia EITI
   

Notably, during her presentation Transparency International Chair applauded Liberia for its continuing efforts in strengthening and supporting issues around transparency and accountability.

The conference was attended by nearly 800 participants from the private sector, civil society, government, etc.

Cost
Travel and accommodation ($4,500) was covered by the World Bank under its Economic Governance & Institutional Reform Project (EGIRP). Per Government of Liberia Travel Guidelines, the Head of Secretariat was provided an additional $350 as incidental allowance.

Monrovia, April 11, 2013, 2013: The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) and the German Development Corporation (GIZ) have on today, April 11, 2013, signed an agreement that will facilitate the production of a “Contract Matrix”. The matrix is a simplified version of all contracts awarded by the Government of Liberia in the oil, mining, agriculture, and forestry sectors. 

The signing ceremony took place at the LEITI Secretariat in Monrovia, with Konah D. Karmo, Deputy Head of the LEITI Secretariat signing for the LEITI and Juliane Weymann,   Advisor of the GIZ Regional Resource Governance Project in West Africa, signing on behalf of her institution.

In line with the agreement, the GIZ will provide funding that will enable the Secretariat secure legal services experts to produce easy-to-read versions of all concessions agreements within the oil, mining, agriculture, and forestry sectors. The project is part of the LEITI’s efforts to ensure increased access to the public on contracts and agreements signed by the Government. To ensure that the Matrix is as accurate as possible, the process will seek collaboration from legal minds at the companies, supervising agencies of government, and the civil society. It will also leverage the services of the National Bureau of Concession, National Investment Commission, etc.

The Secretariat notes that while it has strived, in line with the LEITI Act of 2009, to make these contracts accessible to the public in hard and electronic copies including access on its website, it is yet challenging for the average citizens to understand the terms and provisions due to their complex legal nature. This general lack of understanding of these concession agreements, the Secretariat says, continues to create a void wherein citizens make their own inferences, some of which may not be the true intent of the agreements. 

The matrix when produced will help to mitigate the information gap and serve as an additional tool to strengthen the LEITI communications and outreach activities by reducing the complex legal documents into easy-to-read documents for all citizens, particularly those within close proximity of concession areas. Basically, it will summarize the fiscal terms, contract start/end dates, community benefits, and other key provisions on the agreements.