Liberia

Liberia is now relatively peaceful, but the 14-year civil war that ended in 2003 has left it as a fragile state. Well over two-thirds of the population live in poverty on less than US$1 a day. One in nine children dies before their fifth birthday. One in twelve women dies during childbirth.

Life expectancy is just 45. Health services and schools were destroyed and basic services are non-existent in many parts of the country. As many as 20,000 children were involved with the armed forces during the civil war, and they are at risk of being recruited again.

  • We’re providing free healthcare for 102,399 people
  • We’re saving lives by vaccinating 40,670 children against killer diseases
  • We’re protecting 15,182 children from violence and abuse
  • We’re helping 56,094 children get an education

Save the Children in Liberia

We’ve worked in Liberia since 1991. At first we concentrated on meeting the urgent needs of children caught up in the conflict. Now we’re safeguarding children’s rights through building safer organisations and enhancing children’s participation at all levels of our work. We’re helping communities in six counties recover from the devastating effects of war. Last year our activities benefited 173,675 children.

We’re working with The Sunday Times to save children’s lives in the rural township of Kingsville, Liberia. You can explore Kingsville through our interactive website, and let Davina McCall introduce you to some of the residents and the problems they face. Explore Kingsville.

We’re providing free healthcare

Most people in Liberia are too poor to pay for healthcare. Less than 10% of Liberians have access to quality healthcare, and only 26% of the population have access to safe drinking water.

With funding from the UK government and the European Commission, we’re providing good quality healthcare and essential drugs to 21 clinics in five counties. Last year these clinics carried out 237,503 consultations.

We’ve saved children’s lives by vaccinating 40,670 children against preventable diseases. We built one new clinic and renovated 18 more.

We’ve also supported county health teams to train 79 traditional midwives in ante- and postnatal care and safe delivery practices, and provided refresher training for 519 midwives.

By 2012, we aim to provide access to free, quality healthcare for 284,000 children, young people and pregnant women in the areas where we work

Visit the clinic in Kingsville.

We’re protecting children from sexual violence and abuse

Rape and other forms of sexual abuse are common throughout Liberia.

We’ve campaigned against violations of children’s rights. We’ve provided training to more than 20 international and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). As a result, many now have a code of conduct for staff who work with children and are committed to taking action against individuals who don’t comply with it.

The war also resulted in thousands of children living in orphanages, many of which fail to meet the minimum standards laid down by the government. Most of these children have family members alive, but who cannot cope with another mouth to feed. We’ve worked closely with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to train 52 social workers and 91 orphanage administrators to enforce the minimum standards. When three orphanages were forced to close, we reunited the 968 children who had been living in them with their families.

We’re getting children back into school

Many schools were destroyed during the civil war and families struggle to afford to send their children to school.

Through our Rewrite the Future programme, 56,094 children had access to a good quality, basic education last year.

We helped 11,491 children (including 5,856 girls) get an education for the first time. This includes 4,147 of the most vulnerable children (such as girl mothers, and those involved with armed forces).

We’ve given practical support by supplying 67,612 textbooks and 125 school kits to 52 schools.

Visit the school in Kingsville.

Find out more

  • Read more about our work in Liberia. Download the country brief (PDF 81KB)
  • Visit Kingsville, a rural township in Liberia, through our new interactive website.

Liberia related news stories

Monday 14 September 2009 Too poor to pay: Over sixty organisations call on world leaders to make free healthcare a reality for millions
Failure to provide free healthcare for poor means that millions of people are paying with their lives
Saturday 29 November 2008 Davina McCall is online guide for The Sunday Times Christmas Appeal web project
Save the Children has created an innovative, interactive web project, where you can explore the community of Kingsville in Liberia.
Wednesday 12 March 2008 Children's education is critical to long-lasting peace
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