By Domingo Dargbeh
The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Local Government (MLG), have officially launched the leadership, management, governance and decentralization (LMGD) strategy framework.
The launch is to fortify health system governance, decentralization and accountability.
The program is to also strengthen health system governance, decentralization and accountability in all administrative levels.
The program is funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and technical support from Expertise France.
The framework comprises four foundational documents developed through an inclusive, Liberia-led process.
It includes the LMGD Policy, Implementation policy, Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) and Operational Guidelines.
Together, they provided a unified outline to strengthen health governance from national level to the frontline. The documents, are in accordance with National Health Policy (2022-2031), the National Health Sector Support Plan (2022-2026), the National Decentralization Policy, the Universal Health Coverage Roadmap and the Commitment to the 2025 National Health Summit to reduce Maternal and neonatal mortality.
The four historical post-war health policy framework documents launched Monday, March 2, 2026, was attended by the Minister of Health, Dr. Louis Mapleh Kpoto, France Ambassador to Liberia, Isabella Le Guellec, AFD Country Representative, Sotty Eliot, EF Project Manager and County health officer, Bijay Bharati, and local officials.
The program was officially launched under the theme: “Strengthening Health Governance for Better Health Outcomes.’’
The vision is to decentralize health system with strong regulatory oversight, effective leaders and managers, who would drive reforms for a healthy population to attain equitable growth and sustainable development.
The policy further seeks to transform the health system governance, leadership and management at all levels, thereby making the sector effective, efficient and equitable for achieving
universal health coverage and health security.
Dr. Kpoto, who launched the framework, expressed appreciation to France Government for the support.
She described the framework as national commitment and reform agenda.
“I sincerely want to express our thanks and appreciation to the Republic of France for your continuous support toward our health sector. To the AFD and Expertise France, thank you very much. I have interacted with both the AFD and EF on numerous occasions. What I like about EF Project Manager, is he visits my officer at any time and make recommendations, which was very good for implementation. So, I just want for all of us to give the Republic of Franc a thunderous hand of applaud. Now, I like to formally launched Liberia first post-war four policy documents, which will strengthen our health sector and delivery. Now, these documents are hereby launched.’’
France Ambassador to Liberia, Isabella Le Guellec, described the LMGD policy as a milestone in the partnership, aligned with France Global Health strategy, which prioritizes strengthening health system and achieving universal health coverage.
Madam Guellec assured the gathering that the launch of the LMGD policy, “is not the conclusion of a project, but the beginning of a nationwide implementation in all 15 counties.”
Bijay Bharati, Expertise France (EF) Project Manager said, the framework is a result of the 10-month participatory work, guided by Liberian ownership, which conducted assessment in 25 health facilities, six districts, three hospitals, and three county health teams.
Sotty Eliot, France Development Agency (AFD) Country Representative, commended MoH and the MLG for their hard work and commitment in developing a “new structural framework.”