Maryland County: Where We Stand on What We Know & See and What We Can Do!

 

Our dear County, Maryland, faces significant and urgent challenges that weigh heavily on prospects for future growth and on the cohesion of our communities. Our shared objective is the strengthening of growth, unity, employment and the quality of life in every part of the County.

 

But entering 2014, we worry about: 1). The kind of Congressional leadership we will have, 2). reuniting our people and county and addressing rising uncertainty and high unemployment, especially youth unemployment, with all its negative economic and social consequences

 

While our County faces severe challenges, it can regain momentum by supporting socioeconomic and cultural transformation. To do so, we need: Resilient & sustainable government support and participation of our people; Determined and coordinated structural reforms and to address inequalities; greater confidence in job-creating prospects. This can be done in two ways: implementing promised reforms and renewed cooperation amongst our people and partners.

 

All leaders MUST devote the necessary political energy to deliver concrete actions to exit our crises and boost growth. Each district of the county, working through its regional leadership and through the county leadership and institutions, has a role to play. Mutual assessment process, is a solid foundation upon which we must now build. Conscious of the boost to growth, we support youth development and advancement to intensify efforts to develop a more comprehensive action plan.

 

To solve the disunity issue and youth developmental decline, rid ourselves of socioeconomic crisis and reignite growth, we need to:  Restore confidence in banks. We can do this by: Helping banks safely transport money to the county; promoting access to capital for small businesses; Continuing measures to secure bank funding for small businesses; Address youth and long-term unemployment to provide decent work prospects, along with county-specific structural reforms that are fairly implemented to achieve faster growth.

 

We believe boosting jobs and investing in human capital is the most promising way of tackling inequality. We support the work of our partners in assisting us examine realistic policy options including cost-effective social policies to cushion the most vulnerable from adversity. Investment should target skills and education and thus equip people for the future. Rising inequality calls for heightened consideration of more inclusive models of growth. We must deliver tangible improvements in material living standards and greater social cohesion.

 

We are ready to work on improving the lives of our people, administration and institutional structures, on anti-corruption measures, as well as on the business and investment framework, and on employment, education and social policies. We know when the Liberian economy falters, our poor people suffer most. We need to provide active and sustained support.

 

Each individual, hands-in-gloves with the government, has his own distinctive role and responsibility, but working in partnership, we can together achieve more than the sum of our parts. We stand ready to do what we can to surmount the difficulties ahead and to contribute to building greater confidence in the future of our county  and people.

 

 

 

I am T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell, volunteer worker; working and speaking on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality