The Government of Liberia has officially launched a sweeping Leadership, Management, and Governance Decentralization (LMGD) Policy for the health sector.
The initiative is backed by an €8 million investment from the Republic of France, a move that would shift decision-making power closer to communities and strengthen accountability across all 15 counties. The high-level launch, on Monday, March 2, 2026, attended by senior government officials, county superintendents, development partners and civil society actors, marked what was described as the beginning of a nationwide reform aimed at building a more resilient and sovereign health system.
Developed through an inclusive and consultative process, the LMGD Framework provides a coherent policy and operational architecture to support improved leadership, management capacity and decentralized decision-making within the health sector.
Also, the framework marks a key milestone in Liberia’s effort to consolidate health system reforms and advance universal health coverage. Speaking at the ceremony, Liberia’s Health Minister Dr. Louise M Kpoto hailed the framework as more than a policy document, calling it a “commitment to reform” designed to clarify roles, strengthen coordination and enhance service delivery at national, county, district and facility levels.
According to her, the initiative, developed by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and supported by French partners, aligns with Liberia’s National Health Policy and the Local Governance Act.
The Minister said it provides a comprehensive operational toolkit, including implementation strategies, standard operating procedures and management guidelines, to ensure decentralization moves from theory to practice.
Liberia’s Health Minister narrated that the LMGD Framework comprises four foundational documents developed through an inclusive, Liberian-led process: LMGD policy, Implementation strategy, Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs), and Operational Guidelines.
Together, according to her, they provide a unified outline for strengthening health governance from the national level to the frontline. For her part, Madam E. Isabelle Le Guellec, French Ambassador to Liberia, underscored her government’s long-term commitment to Liberia’s health sector, noting that health remains one of the three pillars of France’s cooperation strategy in the country.
She stated that through ongoing projects, France is investing €8 million to improve leadership coordination, strengthen financial governance and enhance the training of midwives and health managers.
Madam Guellec disclosed that, beyond funding, French technical assistance is also supporting the optimization of Global Fund grants and reinforcing financial management systems within the Ministry of Health. Also speaking, Project Manager, Expertise France, Bijay Bharati, said that the framework is the result of ten months of participatory work, guided by Liberian ownership.
He talked about Evidence-Based assessment conducted across 25 health facilities, six districts, three hospitals and three county health teams by MOH technical teams and Expertise France from January-May 2025, amongst others.
Commenting on long-term vision, Eliot Sotty, AFD Representative in Liberia, said that following the national dissemination, the Liberian government will focus on rolling out the framework across counties and health facilities, integrating the LMGD tools into routine planning, training and supervision mechanisms.
“The dissemination of this new framework is a key milestone in strengthening the resilience of the national health system in Liberia. It will enhance coordination over the long term, from health facilities to the Ministry of Health, and thereby inclusively improve health outcomes for the Liberian population,” Sotty added.
However, Superintendents and local leaders present pledged support for the rollout, describing the reform as critical to reducing maternal and neonatal mortality and strengthening the country’s response to major pandemics.
The launch concluded with a symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony, signaling the formal operationalization of the LNGD framework, an effort both Liberia and France say is aimed at placing every Liberian at the center of care through stronger, decentralized governance.
