Reconstruction Conference on Liberia To Convene in February

The United Nations and the US government will host an international donors conference in New York on February 3 and 4 to seek funding for the reconstruction of Liberia, a senior UN official in Liberia said on Wednesday. Abou Moussa, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Liberia, said the conference would be co-hosted by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State, Collin Powell. He declined to say how much would be required to rebuild the country's vital infrastructure, which has been shattered by 14 years of civil war. However, a senior source in Liberia's broad-based transitional government told IRIN that the country would seek between US$250 million and $500 million. "In fact two of our officials were in Washington DC last week, where they attended a preparatory meeting for this conference," the source said. "That was attended by major donors like the European Union and the Japanese and Chinese governments, in addition to some top level US government policy makers", he added. Moussa, who is one of two deputies to the UN Secretary General's Special Representative to Liberia, Jacques Klein, said nine priority sectors for reconstruction had been identified. They included shelter, poverty alleviation, electricity, telecommunications, forestry and harbour repairs. Consultants and experts, including staff from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, had been working for the past four weeks to draw up a reconstruction plan which would be put to the New York donors conference, Moussa said. "It is a very important conference which should help to raise resources that would require to reconstruct Liberia". Moussa added. He said the funds being sought were in addition to US$137 million which the United Nations appealed for last month to support relief efforts in Liberia in 2004.