The Steering Committee for the Recovery of Economic Activity for Liberian Informal Sector Employment (REALISE) Project has commended the Project Management team for its significant progress and milestone achievements since the last meeting in April.
The chairperson of the committee, Minister of Youth and Sports Cllr. Cole Bangalu, expressed his satisfaction with the project’s performance, stating, “We are extremely delighted with your recent achievements as presented today. I can confidently say that we are on track with the timely implementation of the project.”
The REALISE Project held its fourth Steering Committee meeting on November 1, 2024, with Cllr. Bangalu presiding over the session. During the meeting, the Project Management team presented comprehensive reports on progress, ongoing activities, challenges faced, and strategies moving forward.
Project Coordinator Jesse Bengu led the presentation, highlighting the key accomplishments of the project. “Of the 16,200 targeted beneficiaries under the Community Livelihood and Agriculture Support Component, 5,376 individuals—comprising 2,714 females and 2,662 males—successfully enrolled for Round One of the implementation across 192 communities in all eight counties,” Bengu reported.
He further noted that the project nearly reached its target for agricultural cultivation. “Out of the 6,720 acres initially planned for cultivation, we have successfully cultivated 6,636 acres with a variety of crops across the eight counties,” Bengu said. He also emphasized that these achievements were just a few highlights of the overall progress made across other components of the project.
In addition to the progress reports, Julius Sele, the Executive Director of the Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), reaffirmed his agency’s commitment to the project’s success. “I want to assure the Project Management team of my full support, especially at this critical stage of implementation. We are fully aligned with the project’s development objectives, and we will continue to work together to ensure its success.”
The meeting concluded with a consensus on the need to continue pushing forward to meet the project’s goals, despite the challenges that may arise in the coming months. The committee expressed its confidence in the project team’s ability to maintain momentum.
They agreed on the following items:
- Hold a meeting with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to address critical issues related to the exchange rate and the opening of an LD account.
- The Project Steering Committee will continue holding quarterly meetings.
- The Project Steering Committee will send a monitoring team to the field on a rotational basis.
- The Project Management Team will submit the next project budget.
- The Project Management Team will provide a progress report on the day of each meeting.
