Plan returns to Liberia

Plan has returned to Liberia in West Africa 14 years after civil war forced us to close down operations and leave the country.

Our new office in the capital Monrovia is working to support the government’s reconstruction and development efforts to help children across Liberia.

For the past two years Plan has been supporting Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Liberia chapter to implement a rapid education project, which has benefited more than 4,000 children.

Most primary schools were destroyed by the civil war. The project aims to return children to learning as quickly as possible, while providing psychosocial support to help them recover from the conflict.

Local communities have been central to the project – providing land for non-formal learning centres, and in some cases helping to build them.

Plan will now extend the education project until it can be phased into Liberia’s regular education system.

Birth registration

Another priority for Plan is to work with the Ministry of Health on researching a decentralised birth registration system.

The vast majority of children do not have birth certificates, which is partly because birth certificates can currently only be obtained from the Ministry of Health office in Monrovia - creating a barrier for the rural majority of the population.

Children with birth certificates are less vulnerable to trafficking, child labour and marriage. They also have easier access to health care, education and civil rights. 

Looking forward

Augustine Allieu, Plan’s country director for Liberia, said:

“It’s great for Plan to be back in Liberia. The challenges are many but certainly not insurmountable. Most people still have very good memories of Plan’s past operations in the country and are looking forward to a full resumption of activities.”

Plan started working in Liberia in 1982 but was forced to leave the country in 1990 as a result of civil war. We returned a year later only to see the conflict escalate to such a point in 1993 that once again we had to withdraw.

The Liberian civil war was formally declared over in 2003 and a democratically elected government has been installed.

Plan’s return to Liberia means that we now work in 49 developing countries around the world. The governments of Laos and Rwanda recently gave Plan formal consent to begin operations in their countries.