Liberia
In Liberia, Oxfam's focus is on education, gender equality, peace-building, water and sanitation, and helping people rebuild their lives after the end of the civil war.
The road to recovery
Civil war from 1989-2003 left more than half of Liberia's population internally displaced or living as refugees in neighbouring countries. Communities were ripped apart and much of the country's infrastructure destroyed.
Liberia is now recovering, but significant problems still remain:
- 80 per cent of Liberians live on less than $1 a day
- The country lacks running water or central electricity and has only 200 kilometres of paved road
How Oxfam is helping
We provided emergency support to people during the conflict in Liberia. With the arrival of peace, we are now helping to secure conditions for people to return home and start to rebuild their lives.
The fact that there is no more war in Liberia, that makes me happy. I hope no war comes to Liberia again. We pray that we may grow up and rebuild our country.
Aaron, former child soldier
Learn more
Read more examples of our work in Liberia:
DFID (Department for International Development) is a funding partner of Oxfam in Liberia
Focus on women's rights
Despite the 2006 election of Ellen Sirleaf, Africa's first female president, women in Liberia continue to face an uphill struggle for equal rights.
- Male literacy stands at 73 per cent
- This drops to just 41 per cent among females
Helping make sure girls get an education and promoting gender equality are crucial as a means of fighting poverty. Women are often disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. Education is an important way of helping combat this.
How Oxfam is helping
We encourage girls to enrol and stay in school through special girls' clubs. We also train teachers and raise awareness of HIV and AIDS.
We feel encouraged to learn, we are no longer useless to society – the girls' club is helping us to be somebody.
Member of an extra-curricular girls' club, Unification town
Other development work
- Working with communities to promote peace building and conflict resolution
- Promoting access to quality education for both girls and boys
- Helping people find ways of earning a sustainable living
- Public health and hygiene promotion
Emergency water and sanitation
Mass displacement caused by the civil war from 1989-2003 forced hundreds of thousands of Liberians from their homes.
Oxfam responded to help around 314,000 of those displaced in camps within Liberia.
How Oxfam responded
During the conflict we:
- Built new and improved existing water and sanitation facilities in camps for displaced people
- Ran hygiene education classes and training
- Distributed buckets, blankets, soap, and other essentials
