Sarah McGill Mulbah is a Liberian public-sector professional and budget specialist who serves as Assistant Minister for Budget at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning of Liberia. Her professional work has focused on public financial management, national budgeting, budget policy, expenditure management, development planning, and gender-responsive planning and budgeting.
Career
Mulbah began her career with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) in 2013 as a Budget Analyst in the Department of Budget and Development Planning.
In that position, she worked with government spending entities to assess expenditure requirements, monitor compliance with budgetary controls and appropriations, and evaluate government programs against intended results. She also contributed to the preparation of the Budget Call Circular, budget timetable, spending plans, and capacity-building activities for spending entities.
From 2014 to 2015, Mulbah served as Co-opted Acting Coordinator of the Private Sector Development Project, including the Small and Medium Enterprises and Rural Finance Post-Ebola Reconstruction Facility. Her responsibilities included project coordination and management, financial management, monitoring, compliance, and reporting. The project involved collaboration with institutions including the Central Bank of Liberia and the Ministry of Commerce.
Between 2016 and 2018, she served as Senior Budget Policy Officer in the Office of the Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning.
Her responsibilities included reviewing expenditure requests from government spending entities, advising on budget policy and expenditure decisions, supporting budget formulation, monitoring compliance with the budget timetable, and contributing to budget execution reporting. She also represented the Deputy Minister’s office on the MFDP Budget Management Committee.
Gender-responsive planning and budgeting
Beginning in 2018, Mulbah served as National Coordinator of the Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting National Coordination Unit within the Department of Budget and Development Planning.
In this role, she coordinated efforts to integrate gender considerations into government policy formulation, planning, budgeting, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation.
Her responsibilities included reviewing policies and regulations, developing recommendations for gender mainstreaming, coordinating stakeholders, and providing technical assistance to government institutions.
Mulbah participated in the formulation and adoption of Liberia’s National Policy on Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting and supported the establishment of the National Coordination Unit responsible for its implementation.
She also contributed to the institutionalization of gender-responsive planning and budgeting policies and programs across nine government institutions. Her coordination with government stakeholders contributed to budgetary appropriations for gender-responsive initiatives, including more than US$0.38 million in fiscal year 2022.
During this period, she represented the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in engagements with international development partners, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, European Union, and Swedish International Development Agency.
Assistant Minister for Budget
Mulbah serves as Assistant Minister for Budget at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. In this capacity, she is involved in the formulation, coordination, review, execution, monitoring, and reporting of Liberia’s national budget.
Her responsibilities include coordinating budget submissions and expenditure proposals from government spending entities, reviewing expenditure requests against approved budget ceilings and fiscal policies, supporting budget policy development, strengthening budgetary controls, coordinating budget execution reports, monitoring budget performance, and advising on expenditure management and resource allocation.
She also supports the implementation of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and other public financial management reforms and works with government institutions and development partners on improving the efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness of public expenditure.
Education and professional development
Mulbah earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the African Methodist Episcopal University, where she studied from 2006 to 2010. She later earned a Master of Business Administration in Banking and Finance from the University of Liberia.
Her professional training includes public management, budget formulation within the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, results-based management, monitoring and evaluation, private-sector growth strategies, leadership and change management, gender-responsive budgeting, gender equality and women’s human rights, and gender inequality and macroeconomics.
She has participated in professional development programs in the United States, Sweden, Japan, South Africa, Turkey, and Mauritius.
Professional affiliations
Mulbah was recruited into Liberia’s President’s Young Professionals Program (PYPP) in 2013 and placed at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning as a Budget Analyst.
In 2014, she was selected as a Mandela Washington Fellow, participating in a six-week Public Management program at Morgan State University in Maryland, United States.
She is a founding member of the Ambassador’s Council of Youth Advisors, a body of young Liberian professionals that provides counsel and support to the United States Ambassador and participates in community-based programs and projects. She is also a member of the State Exchange Alumni of Liberia (SEAL).
Professional focus
Mulbah’s professional work has centered on public financial management, national budgeting, budget policy, expenditure management, development planning, public-sector reform, and gender-responsive budgeting.
Her career at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has included progressively senior roles from Budget Analyst to budget policy and coordination positions and, subsequently, Assistant Minister for Budget.
