By Fatima Kpaka
Freetown/Monrovia: Tomorrow, Thursday, February 27, 2025, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Liberia, Francis Sakila Nyumalin, and his Sierra Leonean counterpart, Morie Lengor, alongside UN Resident Coordinators for Liberia and Sierra Leone, Seraphine Wakana and Christine N. Umutoni, will lead a significant event at Bo-Waterside, Liberia, to launch the GOLA-REAP (Resilience, Empowerment, Access, and Peacebuilding) project.
The GOLA-REAP project, with US$4 million in catalytic funding from the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), aims to enhance cross-border collaboration, resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and peacebuilding among communities, law enforcement, and government agencies in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The PBF supports joint UN responses to address critical peacebuilding opportunities by connecting development, humanitarian, human rights, and peacebuilding initiatives.
This initiative will bring together diverse stakeholders, including government representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture, Youth & Sports, Environment, Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), and their counterparts in Sierra Leone. Chiefdom members from both project sites, local authorities, and other stakeholders and beneficiaries will also be present at the launch.
The launch event will serve as a key milestone, officially presenting the project to stakeholders and highlighting its objectives and intended outcomes. These outcomes include strengthening peace, security, and resilience along the borders of the two countries, enhancing social cohesion, improving border management, improving local governance, and promoting climate-smart agriculture to mitigate conflict risks and foster economic resilience, offering a beacon of hope for the future.
The GOLA-REAP project is a joint effort led by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The IOM will provide expertise in migration and border management, while the WFP will contribute its experience in food security and nutrition, in collaboration with national governments, local authorities, civil society organizations, and regional institutions such as the Mano River Union (MRU).