Swedish Embassy Clarifies Report -Says It Doesn’t Necessarily Support Statements by CSOs It Funds
MONROVIA – The Swedish Embassy has clarified that while it provides support to civil society organizations in Liberia as their partners, the CSOs operate entirely independently, and that their views and political stances expressed do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the Swedish government or the Embassy of Sweden.
The Embassy said it was proud to support a diverse range of civil society organizations (CSOs) in an effort to promote inclusive development and democracy in Liberia, including CENTAL, a CSO whose important work on accountability and transparency is partly funded by Sweden through a development cooperation with Liberia.
The clarifications followed a recent article published by this paper when a group of CSOs petitioned President Joseph N. Boakai on the 8th of October, with mention of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) through the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL).
In a note to The Analyst, the Embassy said: “Considering this, the Embassy would like to make some clarifications regarding its support to civil society in Liberia and request a correction.”
“Further, it is imperative for the Embassy that civil society and media actors act without undue influence from Sweden as a donor partner,” said the embassy which added: “In other words – while the Embassy proudly supports partner organizations, this does not in itself mean that we support political statements made by these organizations.”
In another request for correction, the Embassy called attention to another news story, “Grigsby Favorite for Top LRA Job -Sources Say He Comes First In 6-Month Vetting Process” of October 15, 2024, where it was published that candidates were approved by representatives from the Swedish Embassy.
“However, the Swedish representative has only had a role as an observer and has therefore not had a say in the process,” the embassy said.
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