CSOs sanitation & hygiene advocacy & awareness interventions in post conflict Liberia

Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) estimates that ‘only 25 percent of Liberians having access to safe drinking water and just 14 percent having access to human waste collection and disposal facilities.’ Coverage varies from county to county for sanitation from 9% to 25%. Poverty is high at 63.8 percent implying that 1.7 million Liberians out of a population of slightly over 3.5 million are living below a dollar/day. Unemployment remains at over 80%, and similar proportions lack access to basic health, education, and other essential services.

The Human Development Report of 2006 reveals how far Liberia lags behind the MDGs and suggests that, in the best-case scenario, only half of the goals could potentially be achieved by 2015, and none in the health sector or water/sanitation sector.

The need for Civil Society advocacy to influence policy on both government and donors’ side is key. Efforts around Civil Society mobilization in Liberia can make significant contributions to the current wider civil society campaigns on poverty in general.