Liberia

Liberia suffered greatly during the 14 year civil war that tore the country apart. Despite the formal end of hostilities with the Accra Peace Agreement of 2003, the effects of this protracted, devastating conflict can still be seen today as Liberians grapple with a legacy of destroyed infrastructure, widespread poverty, very poor living conditions. One of the poorest countries in the world, 83.8 percent of Liberia's population lives below the poverty line ($1.25 per day) and 94 percent of workers are poor (living on less than $2 per day).

Because of the country’s low agricultural production and poor household incomes, Liberia has suffered from chronic food insecurity since the civil war. Healthcare systems are also struggling to recover and the Ebola epidemic of 2014 proved that the system was still too weak. Chronic malnutrition at 32 percent is among the highest in the world. Finally, a decline in funding has reduced NGO resources, slowing down the country’s recovery.

Action Against Hunger completed its post-Ebola reconstruction work in 2017 (economic and agricultural recovery projects and psychosocial support), having supported 5,000 beneficiaries. Our nutrition programs assisted teams from the Ministry of Health in the screening and treatment of acute malnutrition, treating 3,635 severely malnourished children under the age of five. Our research teams investigated optimization of the diagnosis and follow-up of severe acute malnutrition. We installed new latrines and rehabilitated additional water points, particularly in schools and health centers. To ensure these facilities are maintained, we established and trained local water, sanitation and hygiene committees.