Overview
The Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program (GEMAP) is a partnership between the Government of Liberia (GOL) and the international community to improve governance, enhance transparency and accountability, and lay a solid foundation for a sustainable peace. The Agreement was conceived in direct response to the concerns of the GOL and international partners, (including the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) the United States (US), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB)) about the mismanagement of public resources during Liberia's post-conflict transition and the threat it represented to the peace process. Following consultations between the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) and the International Contact Group for Liberia (ICGL), the GEMAP Agreement was signed on September 9, 2005.
GEMAP is part of the process of building good economic governance in Liberia. Good economic governance is the competent management of a country’s resources and affairs in a manner that is open, transparent, accountable, and responsive to people’s needs. As part of a system of good governance, citizens must monitor the activities of the government and demand transparency and accountability from its institutions and leaders. Good economic governance is critical to development and economic growth. Through the GEMAP framework, Liberian institutions and international partners are putting systems in place to ensure that the funds from Liberia’s institutions and natural resources flow into the government, that the government manages those funds well and transparently, and spends it effectively on rebuilding the country.
After years of mismanagement and corruption, GEMAP helps provide the Liberian people and the international community greater confidence in the government through the provision of internationally-recruited advisors posted in the financial offices of several key Liberian institutions, working with Liberian leadership to establish transparent financial management systems, train and build capacity of Liberian staff, and report openly on their operations, revenue and spending. Many of these experts share co-signing authority so that no major transactions take place without being examined by both a Liberian manager and an international advisor. To date, GEMAP advisors have served in the Ministry of Finance (MOF) Cash Management Committee (CMCo), the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), the Bureau of Budget (BOB), Ministry of Lands, Mines, and Energy (MLME), the National Port Authority (NPA), Roberts International Airport (RIA), Liberia Petroleum Refining Corporation (LPRC), the General Auditing Commission (GAC), the General Services Agency (GSA), Bureau of Customs and Excise (BCE), the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC), the Governance Reform Commission (GRC), and the Forestry Development Agency (FDA).
The Economic Governance Steering Committee (EGSC), the body responsible for the oversight of GEMAP, held its inaugural meeting on October 26, 2005 and continues to oversee the implementation of GEMAP. The EGSC is chaired by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and participants include US Ambassador Donald Booth as Deputy Chair, Government of Liberia ministers, representatives from Liberia’s international partners, and representatives of civil society. The EGSC’s GEMAP Technical Team (TT), which replicates the membership of the EGSC at the working level, provides technical assistance to the Steering Committee and implements GEMAP activities.