The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Lesotho has concluded a four-day peer-learning exchange with UNDP Sierra Leone, focusing on Sierra Leone’s Government Development Financing model and its potential application in Lesotho.
The exchange ended on Wednesday, 5 August 2026, with a Mission Debrief and Reflection Session at the UNDP Sierra Leone Country Office on Main Motor Road, Wilberforce in Freetown.
The UNDP Lesotho delegation included representatives from the Government of Lesotho and the country’s Parliament. The mission provided an opportunity for the two UNDP country offices to exchange experiences on development financing, governance and the effective use of domestic resources.
The delegation travelled to Sierra Leone to study how the Government has been using public resources through UNDP’s technical expertise, procurement systems and implementation mechanisms to support national development programmes.
Under the Government Development Financing model, the Government provides the financial resources, while UNDP contributes technical expertise, procurement services, financial systems and other mechanisms required to support programme implementation.
Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee of the Lesotho Parliament, Honourable Machaba Lemphane-Letsie, said the mission was important as Lesotho seeks to make better use of its limited domestic resources amid declining financial support from development partners.
“We need to localize and domesticate development financing and use our own resources to fund development in Lesotho,” Honourable Machaba Lemphane-Letsie said.
Honourable Machaba Lemphane-Letsie noted that Sierra Leone had made significant progress in using Government resources in partnership with UNDP. She said the delegation planned to take the lessons and best practices from the exchange back to Lesotho.
According to him, one of the most important lessons from Sierra Leone is that the Government remains responsible for determining its development priorities, while UNDP works alongside it to implement programmes in accordance with national development plans.
“The Government plans with UNDP in accordance with the national development plans and they implement the programmes together,” Honourable Machaba Lemphane-Letsie explained.
Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee of the Lesotho Parliament added that adopting the model could help Lesotho reduce the cost of procuring goods and services while ensuring the prudent use of limited public resources.
UNDP Sierra Leone Resident Representative, Fredrick Ampiah, said the peer-learning exchange demonstrated the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences among UNDP country offices.
Fredrick Ampiah described UNDP as a development service organisation that works with Governments by providing global expertise, advisory services, financial systems and procurement mechanisms to advance national development priorities.
The Resident Representative said Sierra Leone was among the first UNDP country offices in the region to implement the Government Development Financing model. He added that the approach had attracted interest from other countries seeking to understand its operation and potential benefits.
“The feedback we have received so far indicates that they find the model extremely exciting, particularly because of its potential to reduce the cost of running the Government in Lesotho,” Fredrick Ampiah said.
He cited UNDP’s collaboration with Sierra Leone’s National Revenue Authority as an example of the model in practice further explaining that Government resources could be channelled through UNDP, allowing the organisation to use its global procurement agreements to obtain vehicles and motorcycles at lower prices.
According to Fredrick Ampiah, such arrangements could save the Government between six and eight percent compared with purchasing goods through the open market.
Sharing his experience from the exchange, UNDP Lesotho Deputy Resident Representative, Dr. Taye Amssalu, said the delegation was particularly interested in how Sierra Leone combines Government ownership with UNDP’s technical and operational support.
“What really caught our attention is that the Government is not merely a recipient of development support but also a funder of its own development,” Dr. Taye Amssalu said.
The UNDP Lesotho Deputy Resident Representative explained that UNDP’s role was not to replace Government institutions but to strengthen them through international experience, technical expertise and effective systems while helping to build national capacity.
Dr. Taye Amssalu expressed optimism that the lessons gained from Sierra Leone could be replicated in Lesotho. He said the delegation would present its findings and recommendations to the Government of Lesotho upon returning home.
“I am optimistic and confident that we will be able to replicate this innovative implementation model,” Dr. Taye Amssalu said.
The four-day exchange formed part of UNDP’s South-South learning approach, which enables country offices to share experiences, practical solutions and innovative development models that can be adapted to their respective national contexts.
