Ireland supporting natural resource governance in Liberia

In a landmark development, Ireland has supported the development of a new framework to review and evaluate agreements related to natural resources.

The Standardised Scoring Framework is a major step towards ensuring that Liberia's vast natural wealth serves all its citizens equitably and transparently.

It equips lawmakers with an evidence-based tool to evaluate agreements across nine critical dimensions - including legal compliance, fiscal terms, environmental protection, local content development, and human rights safeguards.

Liberia has rich natural resources that hold immense potential for national development. However, the country has long grappled with issues around transparency. The result has often been contracts that fail to deliver benefits to local communities or adequately protect the environment.

It was developed by Integrity Watch Liberia with support from Irish Aid through Ireland’s embassy in Monrovia.

Ireland partners with Integrity Watch Liberia to help strengthening transparency and accountability in institutions in Liberia.

Integrity Watch Liberia says it hopes the framework will help to foster a new era of clarity, consistency and public trust in how Liberia’s natural wealth is managed.

Ireland’s Embassy staff in Monrovia, led by Ambassador Gerard Considine, were joined at the launch of the new framework by Senator Francis S. Dopoh of River Gee County, Co-Chair of the APNIFFT Liberia Caucus, Hon. P. Mike Jurry, of Maryland County and Chair on ways, Means and Finance - House of Representative, and Senator Numene T. H. Bartekwa, Chair of the Senate Committee on Concessions.

Senator Dopoh noted that legislators hold a duty to ensure Liberia’s natural resources were used to benefit the people of the country. “This Framework enables us to fulfill that duty with clarity and confidence,” he said.

Hon. P. Mike Jurry emphasized the Framework’s environmental provisions: “If environmental degradation is not addressed now, the impacts will affect our children and generations unborn. This Framework ensures we account for long-term impacts in every concession decision.”

Senator Numene T. H. Bartekwa, Chair of the Senate Committee on Concessions, described the initiative as “monumental and transformative,” adding that “this tool sets a new standard for how concession and investment contracts will be evaluated in Liberia, ensuring decisions are grounded in fairness, transparency, and long-term national interest.”