The opening of a joint United Nations office in a provincial capital of Liberia will boost cooperation in international support to the West African country, which is recovering from a devastating 14-year civil war, a UN official said Monday.

"We have done a lot of planning and lot of work together. It is time for us to change from 'plenty talk' to 'plenty work now,'" said Jordan Ryan, the deputy UN Envoy in Liberia at the inauguration of the joint UN office in Zwedru, the capital of southeastern Grand Gedeh County.

The second such office in the country brings together five UN agencies and the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). The first one was opened in June last year in Voinjama, Lofa County.

The five agencies are the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The organizations will carry out joint assessments, planning, programming, implementing and monitoring of projects in the county, creating an opportunity for the UN to maximize the effectiveness of its expertise for the benefit of the people, said Ryan, quoted by a UN press release.

According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's latest report on Liberia, the country has continued to make "steady progress" in its recovery strategy but requires continued international assistance, especially in efforts to curb poverty.

Source:Xinhua