Monrovia – Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, says the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development will be unachievable without the help of its Foreign Missions and Consular Generals.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs made the disclosure at the closure of the four-day retreat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the weekend.
The theme of the retreat was “envisioning and enhancing the future of the foreign policy of the Republic of Liberia during and post COVID-19”.
“Liberia’s flagship, the national development agenda, the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development cannot be realized in its entirety in the isolation of the foreign service,” he said.
Minister Kemeya added: “The four-day retreat provided a unique opportunity for all of their foreign missions and consular generals to come together with the officials of Foreign Affairs to look into the foreign service to identify strength, weakness, opportunity, and the threat of the foreign service of Liberia and bring forth recommendations aimed at the actualization of our foreign policy objective, but more so about our Foreign Service vision of His Excellency Dr. George Weah.”
He stressed that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is the bridge between the outside world and the national space. Minister Kemayah said the home office and the foreign missions and consular generals are the pillars of the bridge.
Foreign Affairs Minister further stated that the support of individuals in the foreign service is cardinal in the developmental drive of the country.
“This retreat has proven pivotal in reawakening those of you in the foreign service and us at home office to the reality that we are one family and together we can achieve the objectives that are set,” he said.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs praised Liberia’s international partners for their supports for the development of the country.
“Members of the international community, our partners serving in Liberia, we are blessed, in the true sense of the word to have you serve your respective countries in our country, we cherish it. And as we have indicated, we see the international community as an indispensable element toward the reconstruction of our country,” Kemayah said
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also extolled all Liberians working in the foreign mission, adding that there are going to be some reforms to enhance their work in the foreign service.
He added: “The sacrifices that you have made out there as Ambassador or Diplomatic staff – we can never attempt to recount those sacrifices because they are endless.”