Broadcasters can use this piece for an overview of the Liberia Partners' Forum or for the perspective on what's next for children in Liberia. The story has the voices of many high level people in the UN and World Bank. ?This meeting is crucial to the future of the people of Liberia,? stated President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at the Liberia Partners? Forum held this week in Washington DC. ?They have lived through the nightmare of senseless wars, violence, abuse and tragedy,? she added. ?They have seen their communities destroyed and their families uprooted. After 15 years of civil war and auto-destruction, when we took office there was no electricity, no water. Schools and clinics had crumbled and roads were impassable. Many youth had spent more time in war than in school.? Ms. Sirleaf was talking to a room of ambassadors and other delegates from countries around the world ? all potential donors to her country?s efforts to rebuild and reinvent itself from the ground up after 14 years of civil war. UNICEF Image Having taken office a year ago as the elected woman president of an African country, Ms. Sirleaf had come to Washington for a two-day meeting at the World Bank. At the opening session, she sat flanked by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. Mr. Wolfowitz spoke about the inspiring scene he had witnessed on a recent visit to Liberia, where children and young people are returning to their education after years of missing it. ?Those who remember Liberia?s violent past may find it hard to imagine it?s become a place of hope, but it has,? he said. Ms. Rice announced that the US Government would be cancelling Liberia?s $391 million debt to the United States. But beyond debt relief, financing the broad improvements that Liberia needs will be a major challenge. The World Bank?s Country Manager for Liberia, Luigi Giovine, says he needs to temper his enthusiasm with realism about Liberia?s reconstruction. ?The fact is that as of now, the resources are missing for development,? he said.

Broadcasters can use this piece for an overview of the Liberia Partners' Forum or for the perspective on what's next for children in Liberia. The story has the voices of many high level people in the UN and World Bank. ?This meeting is crucial to the future of the people of Liberia,? stated President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at the Liberia Partners? Forum held this week in Washington DC. ?They have lived through the nightmare of senseless wars, violence, abuse and tragedy,? she added. ?They have seen their communities destroyed and their families uprooted. After 15 years of civil war and auto-destruction, when we took office there was no electricity, no water. Schools and clinics had crumbled and roads were impassable. Many youth had spent more time in war than in school.? Ms. Sirleaf was talking to a room of ambassadors and other delegates from countries around the world ? all potential donors to her country?s efforts to rebuild and reinvent itself from the ground up after 14 years of civil war. UNICEF Image Having taken office a year ago as the elected woman president of an African country, Ms. Sirleaf had come to Washington for a two-day meeting at the World Bank. At the opening session, she sat flanked by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. Mr. Wolfowitz spoke about the inspiring scene he had witnessed on a recent visit to Liberia, where children and young people are returning to their education after years of missing it. ?Those who remember Liberia?s violent past may find it hard to imagine it?s become a place of hope, but it has,? he said. Ms. Rice announced that the US Government would be cancelling Liberia?s $391 million debt to the United States. But beyond debt relief, financing the broad improvements that Liberia needs will be a major challenge. The World Bank?s Country Manager for Liberia, Luigi Giovine, says he needs to temper his enthusiasm with realism about Liberia?s reconstruction. ?The fact is that as of now, the resources are missing for development,? he said.