World Bank Country Manager Larisa Leshchenko said the new approach will be a “flexible strategy” that will focus on ending extreme poverty and increasing prosperity in a sustainable manner.

She told a meeting with media executives and managers that the CPF takes the place of the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) and guides the Bank Group's support to a member country.

The CPS runs from 2013-2017 and the new CPF will replace it by mid next year.

Leshchenko explained that a Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) informs the new country partnership, identifying the most important challenges and opportunities at the country level for reaching the corporate goals.

Consultations with a range of stakeholders, including the media, inform the SCD process, from diagnostic through completion, the World Bank official noted.
The SCD, she added, uses data and analytic methods to support country clients and World Bank Group teams in identifying the most critical constraints to, and opportunities for, reducing poverty and building shared prosperity.

It considers the voices of the poor and the views of the private sector and other stakeholders in the process.

Leshchenko said the process of the new country partnership will kick off in Washington D.C. at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings shortly.

“This week, I will be traveling to Washington DC to participate in the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings. Upon my return, I will be meeting with the media to brief you on the outcome of the meetings,” she said.

Leshchenko assured that the Bank will strive to deliver the best of service to the Liberian people.

She said having attended a meeting at the Education Ministry on Early Childhood Education and seeing the eloquence of 7-8 year olds, she was convinced that the future of Liberia lies in the hands of these young ones who must given adequate and quality upbringing.
LINA PTK