13 February 2018, Monrovia – Through the Ministry of Justice, the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) is holding a four-day self-assessment retreat from 13 to 16 February 2018. Funded by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), this fourth annual internal evaluation process aims to determine institutional strengths, weaknesses and key priority areas for institutional development.

The opening ceremony was attended by LIS leadership including the Director of Migration, a representative of the LNP IGP elect and by the Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) and the United States of America’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).

During this retreat, LIS managers countrywide will discuss and assess the current status of the LIS looking at themed areas including organizational structure, financial viability, performance and integrity and the final self-assessment report will inform organizational challenges and priorities going forward. The outcome of the retreat will serve as a roadmap for LIS activities throughout the year.

The United Nations Police (UNPOL) Head of Transition Support and Institutional Development, Ms. Jane Rhodes commended the LIS for their hard work and recalled that UNMIL will leave Liberia at the end of March 2018.

“Your achievements over the past 14 years are significant. Just recently, you have developed and implemented the Integrated Border Management and Security System and Strategy and a community engagement project, deploying community engagement officers across the country to ensure border communities are fully engaged. These are amongst the many significant achievements that the LIS can be proud of” said Ms. Rhodes.

“This retreat is very timely as UNMIL hands-over to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and other partners in Liberia. The outcome from this retreat will also better inform the UNCT and other partners about the current status of your institutional capacity and challenges. On behalf of UNPOL, I would like to thank the LIS for being such a motivated and supportive partner to work with over the years” she concluded.