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Updated: March 2009

Liberia

Overview | World Vision's history in Liberia| World Vision in Liberia today



Overview

The Republic of Liberia, located on the Atlantic coast of Africa, is bordered by Côte d’Ivoire to the east, Guinea to the north, and Sierra Leone to the west. Liberia’s 360 miles of coastline feature several sandbars, lagoons, and mangrove swamps. The inland is characterized by dense tropical rainforests, flat to rolling plains, and the low ranges of the West African Mountains and the Guinea Highlands. While Liberia’s summers are typically cloudy and wet, its winters are dry with hot days and cool nights. Natural resources include iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold, and hydropower.

Liberia was founded in 1822 by the American Colonization Society as a place to settle freed U.S. slaves. Today, its population consists primarily of 16 indigenous ethnic groups, each with its own language. The Kpelle in the central and western regions is the largest of these groups. Descendents of free-born and former slaves from the United States and the Caribbean make up five percent of the population. English is the country’s official language and is spoken by 20 percent of Liberians.

Thousands of slaves from the United States arrived in Liberia in the 1820s, establishing the capital of Monrovia in 1824. More settlements were formed over the next two decades, leading to independence in 1847 and making Liberia Africa’s first established republic. Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a member of the True Whig Party, became the country’s first president. The True Whigs would stay in power until 1980, when indigenous leader Samuel K. Doe seized power in a coup d’etat. His tenure as president saw increased human rights abuses and ethnic tensions.		Map of Liberia


Flag of Liberia 
Country statistics 
Population3.6 million
Land mass43,000 square miles
People per square mile83
Life expectancy41 years
Under age 5 mortality rate235/1,000
Literacy rate52%
Access to safe water61%
Average annual incomeUS$140
Religion
Christian40%
Indigenous beliefs 40%
Muslim20%
 
On December 24, 1989, a small band of rebels led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia and reached the outskirts of Monrovia within six months. For the next seven years, one of Africa’s most violent civil wars was waged, claiming more than 200,000 lives and displacing a million people. Taylor later agreed to a transitional government plan and, in 1997, emerged victorious as Liberia’s new president. The government’s failure to improve the country led to another flare-up in violence in 2003, causing President Taylor to resign and flee into exile. Africa’s first democratically elected female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, assumed the presidency in 2005 and has made positive strides toward economic recovery and the reduction of corruption.

In an effort to improve the economy, President Johnson Sirleaf has encouraged private investment in corporations and has built support from international donors. But decades of civil war and government mismanagement destroyed much of the nation’s economic infrastructure. Many business owners fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them and plunging the country into economic ruin. Today, Liberia has the world’s worst unemployment rate at 85 percent. Those who do work earn an average of $140 per year—an amount lower than all but three countries worldwide. More than 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

The devastating civil war also led to the deterioration of the country’s health-care system. More than 95 percent of Liberia’s health facilities were destroyed from 1993 to 2006, and all but 20 government-paid doctors fled to more peaceful countries. Due to the lack of sufficient health care, preventable diseases, such as malaria and acute respiratory infections, have affected many Liberians, especially children. The country’s infant and under-age-5 mortality rates remain among the highest in the world. More than 23 percent of children die before reaching their fifth birthday. Nearly 75 percent of people do not have access to adequate sanitation and nearly 40 percent do not have access to safe water.

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World Vision's history in Liberia

World Vision’s work in Liberia began in 1959 with a one-time grant to train indigenous pastors. World Vision returned to Liberia in 1974 to assist David Kepple, executive director of Air Evangelism International, Inc., in the making of the film Search for Survival.

In 1982, World Vision launched its first development project, which provided primary health education and vaccinations to 4,500 people in the Boykai region. Boykai communities also benefited from a 25 percent increase in food production from World Vision’s efforts. During the next 10 years, work in Liberia included the following:
  • The Grace of God Project improved the health and sanitation conditions for 15,000 people in the rural Dokomu district through the provision of wells, latrines, medicines, and clinical equipment. Basic education classes and food production also were improved.
  • The Boys’ Town Rehabilitation Project provided practical, holistic support to 700 teenagers through vocational skills training, including plumbing, carpentry, woodworking, and agriculture. As the youth became more self-reliant, job opportunities were created for them.
  • The Fatima Orphanage Project focused on providing 670 homeless, orphaned, and needy children with primary education, health care, and spiritual nurture. In addition, the children’s meals and medical bills were subsidized with funds from a poultry project.
In 1995, World Vision conducted a relief assessment seminar to consider a wide variety of issues in Liberia, including the degree of suffering and human need. As a result, the Liberia Emergency Relief Project developed the following sectors:
  • Health—provided preventive and responsive health care, including immunizations, nutritional assistance, and feeding programs to Liberian children and their families.
  • Agricultural Recovery—procured and distributed seeds, various planting materials, and tools to 40,000 displaced and returning families.
  • Food Aid—developed a food-for-work initiative focused on rehabilitating basic farming infrastructure in an effort to provide more food and support the resettlement and rehabilitation process.
  • Care to Children—resettled displaced children with their extended families and supported a local orphanage.
In 1998, World Vision continued assisting vulnerable people through a three-year program designed to provide food-for-work programs as well as school and therapeutic feeding sessions. The project also repaired severely damaged roads and bridges, procured emergency stocks of seeds and tools, and provided preventive health care to war-affected people.

As Liberia continues to recover from a prolonged civil war, World Vision’s focus lies primarily with providing relief to the displaced families and children. Since May 2004, World Vision has established three supplementary feeding centers as well as 16 child-focused HIV and AIDS clinics in Grand Cape Mount County.

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World Vision in Liberia today

World Vision is committed to partnering with the people of the Liberia to enhance their lives today and to help enact sustainable solutions for the future of their communities, families, and children. Currently, there are no children registered in the World Vision sponsorship program. World Vision operates several development projects, a few of which are supported by U.S. donors. Highlights of these efforts include the following:
  • To help control the spread of HIV and AIDS among Liberians, World Vision, in collaboration with the national Ministry of Health, has implemented the Response to the Spread of HIV and AIDS Project in the Tewor and Garwula districts of Grand Cape Mount County. Components of this project include training leaders of Liberian faith-based organizations (FBO) on HIV awareness; supporting two voluntary HIV counseling and testing centers; and producing information, education, and communication materials. Approximately 2,000 FBO leaders and an additional 2,000 community members (including students, teachers, and school authorities) will directly benefit from this project.
  • The Prayer and Action Against Corruption Project brings together members of the Liberian Council of Churches in an effort to understand the impact of corruption and to act against it. After several workshops and brainstorming sessions, the council members voted to carryout awareness campaigns on corruption practices, advocate for an anti-corruption bill to be passed, and organize training sessions on accountability.
For more information on World Vision’s programs in Liberia, please contact the United States office.

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