OCHA Situation Report
Liberia
Critical Humanitarian Gaps in Liberia 2008
10 March 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The people and the Government of Liberia have made impressive strides 
since 2006 in consolidating peace and strengthening national authority. 
These achievements have indeed paved the way to more sustainable recovery 
and development. Yet, despite these advances, far too many Liberians 
remain vulnerable and confront acute humanitarian needs on a daily basis. 
These include lack of access to basic services, notably health care, safe 
drinking water, shelter and education. In response to the many challenges, 
the Government is leading efforts to formulate a Poverty Reduction 
Strategy (PRS) that will prioritise development efforts. In an attempt to 
ensure a more coherent response, the United Nations in Liberia has 
formulated the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 
that advances select programmatic initiatives aligned with national 
priorities.

However, as is often the case in transitional situations, resource 
mobilisation for development is subject to delay, and adequate funding for 
the PRS and UNDAF will take time to come on line. In the meantime, 
resources are needed to ensure that the critical humanitarian gaps and 
needs of highly vulnerable communities during this important transitional 
period are addressed. However, given the global competition for 
humanitarian support, mobilising funding for these acute needs has proven 
difficult despite Liberia's worrying demographic indicators such as 
ranking fifth worldwide in childhood mortality.

During the crisis and immediate post-crisis period, Liberia has relied 
mainly on the support of international humanitarian organisations to 
provide basic social services, many of which have closed operations or are 
scaling back in light of reduced funding. The situation in Liberia is a 
reminder that the international community has yet to come to grips with 
the humanitarian-to-development gap. It would indeed be troubling were 
Liberians to be worse off now with peace than they were when humanitarian 
aid was reaching them in the immediate post-conflict period. Steps are 
needed to ensure that vulnerabilities are not exacerbated in a nation that 
remains fragile in many respects. Additionally, if the Government and its 
international partners are not seen to be delivering results and improving 
the situation with regards to delivery of basic services and justice, this 
may impact on the Liberians' confidence in their Government and its 
institutions.

Against this background, the Government of Liberia and the humanitarian 
community have agreed on the need to highlight the most critical 
humanitarian gaps (CHG) in Liberia and mobilise resources to respond. This 
document presents 19 high-priority projects valued at $127.9 million in 
the sectors of Health, Food Security, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene 
(WASH). These sectors have been particularly underfunded in previous 
humanitarian appeals. A small Liberia Humanitarian Response Fund (LHRF), 
to be administered under the direction of the Humanitarian Coordinator in 
collaboration with the Government and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee 
(IASC) Country Team, is also proposed to ensure flexible and rapid 
response to unforeseen emergencies and critical residual gaps. The LHRF 
will add value to the CHG priorities by enabling quick action in the event 
of sudden emergencies.

Liberia has benefited from the ongoing Humanitarian Reform process. As one 
of the first countries to embrace the cluster approach and to support the 
formation of strong government-led sector groups, Liberia exemplifies a 
partnership among the Government, donors, UN agencies, NGOs and the 
Liberia Red Cross Society. Drawing on this partnership, the humanitarian 
stakeholders, working under the overall guidance of the Humanitarian 
Coordinator and the IASC Country Team, have carefully considered and 
prioritised the projects presented in this CHG.

The CHG's projects have been determined to have the most significant 
impact on the well-being of the most vulnerable communities. In addition, 
these projects will play a role in advancing efforts to lay the foundation 
for recovery and development. These projects also build upon successful 
work in Liberia supported by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) 
in 2006-2007 as well as benefit from the strengthened collaboration and 
joint analysis fostered by the CERF prioritisation process. It should be 
noted that the prioritisation exercise in Liberia focused on the most 
critical needs in a limited number of sectors, in particular those that 
have been underfunded in the past. The overall target population to 
benefit from the 19 proposed interventions is estimated to be in excess of 
two million Liberians, with a particular focus on the least-served 
communities in the southeast of the country.

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=761B490B3F6CD3738525740800707C8B&file=Full_Report.pdf

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