Liberia Overview
This February we are inviting you to learn more about ActionAid and our work in Liberia. We are offering our projects and programs so you can learn how to join the fight against poverty. ActionAid started our work in Liberia in 1996 and continues today. We have accomplished a great deal already but much remains to be done as Liberia continues to recover from two decades of civil wars. Please read on work and see how you can support the people of Liberia as they rebuild their country.
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ActionAid and Liberia
Founded as a colony in 1822 by a determined group of individuals who had survived slavery in the United States. Their colony was viewed as a promised land and other people from surrounding areas chose to join this colony. Liberia enjoyed the unofficial support of the US government and the support of neighboring Sierra Leone, then under British control. But the 20th century brought changes to the region, both economic and political. Civil war and cross-border conflicts became commonplace and, in 1989, Liberia fell into the first round of what would be two decades of civil war.
ActionAid started working in Liberia during the April war of 1996. After the offices were looted, our staff was forced to flee, returning in 1997 and our work has continued in Liberia since. Following the 2003 transitional, power-sharing government, elections in 2005 marked the end of the political transition. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn in January 2006 as President of Liberia and the first democratically-elected female Head of State in the history of all of Africa.
Until 2003 ActionAid concentrated around urban and suburban areas as rural areas were not safe. We have since been able to establish ourselves in many rural communities, particularly in the often overlooked southeast region. We initiated a food security project, to restore people’s livelihoods after the war. We distributed seed and tools, worked on the development of farm families, and helped women to find ways of making an income. We are currently working on important programs regarding reintegration of women and rights to education for girls. ActionAid Liberia is focused on Women’s Rights, Security and Emergencies, HIV/AIDS Education and Food Rights.
Every month in 2009 ActionAid will introduce you to our work by featuring one of the 50 countries ActionAid works in. We know it can be overwhelming when contemplating the challenges faced by poor people and communities around the world. It can be even more difficult to understand how you can have a role in solutions to global poverty.
But there is hope. Because of our network of supporters and activists, ActionAid is making day-to-day life better for millions of the world’s poorest citizens while working to change the fundamental causes of poverty, project by project, policy by policy.
