“Smaller Government, Better Service”

1 Republic of LiberiaCIVIL SERVICE AGENCY (CSA)63 Carey StreetMonrovia, LiberiaJUNE 2008 MONROVIA, LIBERIA smaller government , smaller Government, Pay Reform and Pension ReformHuman Resources ManagementRestructuring and RightsizingImproving Service DeliveryDeveloping LeadershipGender Equity in the civil ServiceBetter Service civil Service Reform Strategy(2008 2011)Liberia civil Service Reform Strategy 2008-2011 June 2008 The civil Service Reform Strategy document was drafted by a team comprising of Nellie Mayshak, Willie Belleh, Victor Ayeni, Kevin Brown, Dominic Tarpeh, James Thompson and Robin George, with editorial support from Joshua Chaffi n.

2 PHOTO CREDITSP hotos on page: ii, ix, x, 1, 11, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 33, 46, 52, 55 by Benjamin J. SpatzPhotos on page: 4, 8, 13, 28, 40, 58, 61, 68, 74 by Sando MooreDesign, layout and printing:New Concept Information Systems (P) Delhi, of LiberiaJUNE 2008 MONROVIA, LIBERIA smaller government , Better Service civil Service Reform Strategy(2008 2011) smaller government , Better Service iiiForewordPost-confl ict Liberia has commenced renewal. Regrettably, economic recovery and reconstruction are constrained by a civil Service that is highly incapacitated.

3 The civil Service is the driver of government business. As such, we cannot achieve our poverty reduction goals without a reinvented civil Service. This reform strategy presents a roadmap that is capable of re-inventing the Liberian civil Service. The shared national vision is to transform the civil Service from an ineffective and ineffi cient entity to a competent, professional, and motivated Service that is an effective instrument of sustainable human development. On account of the mediocre performance of the civil Service in recent times, our people have lost confi dence in the government to meet their needs.

4 We must, therefore, restore this confi dence. I am, thus, gratifi ed that, given our recent experiences, the new civil Service that we seek to create will be transparent and accountable to the people. The de-politicization and professionalism of the service as envisioned in this Strategy is a laudable entry point to the evolution of a new culture of work and forward-looking accountability . I thank the civil Service Agency and all of our stakeholders that have worked tirelessly to produce this Strategy. I particularly pay tribute to our friends in the international community, particularly the British Department for International Development and the World Bank for their contributions in the achievement of this feat.

5 My government calls on the continued partnership of the international community, the commitment of ministries and agencies, and the goodwill of our people to support the expeditious implementation of this Strategy. After 160 years of existence in an environment of low human development, we have no choice, but to now forge ahead towards modernizing our civil Service to energize the rebuilding of our war-torn society. My administration has provided ample evidence that positive changes are possible and that Liberians, working together in harmony, can make them Johnson SirleafPresidentRepublic of Liberia smaller government , Better Service ivPreface Fifteen years of conflict has destroyed the civil Service.

6 The modicum of a merit-based, civil Service system prevailing in Liberia has been ruined. During the war years, civil Service standards, policies and procedures were ignored. A large number of unqualified persons were recruited in the Service largely on the basis of allegiance to the various warring factions that persecuted the armed conflicts. Liberians acquiesced to this situation as a trade-off between conflict and peace. But even before the conflicts, the Service had begun to deteriorate on account of recruitment, placement and promotion being based on ethnicity, partisanship and social contacts.

7 The conflicts only worsened the , there is a window of opportunity here! Our post-conflict reconstruction does not only provide an avenue for restoring the Service and rebuilding its capacity. More fundamentally, it provides a chance to modernize the Service in line with international best practices adapted to our conditions. The creation of a professional civil Service is the key to the effective and efficient implementation of the government s reconstruction and reform programs. This is the motivation for the development of this civil Service Reform Strategy.

8 This strategy contains an over-arching vision of the reforms to be carried out; strategic objectives to be achieved; reform components with their strategic directions; implementation arrangements, milestones and action plans; costs; and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The Strategy contains six key orientations: Re-structuring and Right-sizing: Establishing a lean, effective and efficient central government bureaucracy primarily dedicated to policy-making, regulation and monitoring and evaluation, while decentralizing implementation to sub-national levels and limiting the role of the government by outsourcing a number of services to non-state actors through strengthened public-private partnerships.

9 Pay and Pension Reforms: Putting into place a compensation regime of policies, remuneration and incentives that attracts, retains, and contributes to the motivation of civil servants to diligently perform their roles and responsibilities; as well as implementing a pension scheme that ensures that retired civil servants are paid decent post-service benefits; Enhancing Service Delivery: Improving service delivery by valuing the public as customers and focusing on their needs while strengthening the quality of services and expanding access to all segments of the population.

10 Human Resources Management: Managing a government workforce through the fair and consistent application of modernized civil Service laws, policies and regulations smaller government , Better Service vfor the recruitment, development and utilization of civil servants in the effective and efficient implementation of the functions of ministries, agencies, and autonomous commissions. Human resource management will be further strengthened, through the installation of a state-of-art Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) based on biometric technology.