Harold Jonathan Monger

Liberian Institute of Public Administration
Focus Area(s)
Civil Service
Interviewers
Yoni Friedman
Country of Reform
Liberia
Town/City
Monrovia
Country
Liberia
Date of Interview
Monday, June 27, 2011
Abstract

In this interview, based on his experiences at the Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA), Harold Jonathan Monger explains the challenges involved in institutionalizing capacity building. LIPA is an internal consulting and civil service trainer entity. Monger discusses the budgeting problems in equipping the institute to be able to provide better training and to improve the marketing of its services to government agencies. He also details LIPA’s changing relationships with other internal and external capacity-building consultants such as the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program and IBI International, both of which have also played significant roles in the designs of certification trainings and civil service workshops. Finally, Monger draws from his extensive experience to comment on what he says are the main obstacles to improving governance in Liberia. He recommends establishing formal, uniform systems and procedures and improving communication and collaboration between agencies to avoid duplication.

Profile

At the time of this interview, Harold Jonathan Monger was director general of the Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA). He has a bachelor of science from Liberia’s Cuttington University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. And he has extensive public- and private-sector experience in civil-service capacity building, having been with both the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund as well as a Ghanaian consulting company. He has been at LIPA since 2004.

Keywords
capacity-building
training
technical assistance
performance management
budgeting
Not specified