Liberia – Equity & Inclusion

Liberia – Equity and Inclusion

Liberia – Equity & InclusionWhat does it mean to be a

Liberian?

Dennis PainMarch 2012


Environment in which a Liberian may live


Liberia – Equity & Inclusion

• Annual Income: US$380, about half the level 30-40 years earlier

• Education: 3.7 years in school

• Probability of not surviving first year of life: 7 in 100• Probability of not surviving first 5 years of life: 11 in 100

• Life expectancy: 57

• Probability of having adequate access to a safe functioning water point for every 250-300 people within 1.5 miles - 2 in 5

• Probability of malaria during last year: 1 in 3(in 2010, reduced from 2 in 3 in 2005)

The average Liberian has


• Has only 1.6 years of education and is half as likely as a man to have completed Grade 6 primary

• Has a probability of dying from giving birth at 5 in every 100 - worse than it was a decade or two earlier

• Has experienced physical violence from a husband/partner (8 out of 10) and half by a parent

• Is a member of the Sande secret society and experienced female genital cutting

• Suffers multiple control by her husband• Is employed, but likely to be in agriculture or elementary

occupations

The average Liberian woman


• Has about 6 siblings:• First had sex just after her 16th birthday, 2

years before her brother;• One in seven of those having sex before age

15 were forced against their will;• Married before 20, two years later than her

mother, but over 4 years younger than her husband

• Had her first child at age 19

Typically a woman:


• Depends on whether she lives around Monrovia and other towns or in a rural area

• Depends on the county where she lives• Depends on how wealthy is her household

But there is no such thing as an average Liberian woman! It depends

on where she is born and lives:


• Six times as likely to have been born by choice;• Slightly more likely to have a nutritionally healthy mother

and nearly twice as likely to have been protected against neo-natal tetanus;

• BUT more likely to be malnourished (weight for height) in infancy!!

Yet almost half as likely to be stunted (height for age);• Four times as likely to receive all basic vaccines;• Ten times as likely to have completed Primary 6;• Less likely to be employed, but it will be in a skilled job;• Four times as likely to give birth in a health facility;• BUT about 5 times as likely to be HIV +ve;

A wealthier Monrovian woman’s life story:


• Being born at home, not a health facility;• Being twice as much at risk of death as an infant;• Two out of eleven not reaching their 5th birthday;• Most likely never having been to school;• Having to leave home to access education above

Grade 3;• Working in agriculture;• Accepting that a husband can be justified in beating

his wife

Another Liberian woman from a poor household in a border county survives despite


%9

%9%9

%9%9

%9

%9

%9

%9

%9

%9

%9

%9

%9

%9

Lofa

Nimba

Sinoe

Bong

Gbarpolu

Grand Gedeh

Grand Bassa

Rivercess

River Gee

Grand Kru

Bomi

Margibi

Grand Cape Mount

Maryland

Montserrado

276,683

83,388

333,481462,026

125,258

102,391

71,509

221,693

66,789

135,938

57,913

209,923

127,076

84,119

1,118,241

Percentage of population below poverty line

< 50 %50-60 %

61-70 %

> 70 %

Overall Population & Income Poverty Head Count

Source: Liberia PRS 2007

Liberia – Equity and Inclusion Population Density by Clan Areas

Source: Population Census 2008


Average Distance to Health Facility within District

Source: National Health and Social Policy Paper, MOHSW 2011


100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

Category

Maternal Deliveries for 5 years up to 2007(LDHS 2007 Table 9.5)

Liberia (37)

Urban (63)

Rural (26)

Monrovia (71)

S. East B (21)

Wealthiest* (70)

Poorest* (18)

•Wealthiest/Poorest refers to highest/lowest 20% households. Half of mothers report problems of cost of treatment (wealthiest – 37%; poorest - 74%)and cost of transport (wealthiest – 26%; poorest – 82%).

Above secondaryeducated mother (64)

Uneducated mother (28)

Percentage deliveries in a health facility

2008 Ghana (57)

2008 Sierra Leone (25)

2005 Guinea (31)

1998 Cote d’Ivoire (47)

Liberia – Equity and Inclusion Mosquito Nets & Prevalence of Fever(Liberia Malaria Indicator Survey 2009 Tables 4.1)Percentage under-five children who

slept under a net the previous night

Mon

rovi

a

Mon

tser

rado

( - M

onro

via)

Mar

gibi

Gran

d Ba

ssa

Bom

i G

rand

Cap

e M

ount

Gbar

polu

Rive

r Ces

sSi

noe

Gran

d Ge

deh

Rive

r Gee

Gran

d Kr

uM

aryl

;and

Bong

N

imba

Lo

fa

Wea

lthie

st 2

0%

Poor

est 2

0%

17.2

32.7

35.6

36.4

29.5

25.7

20

30

= Percentage of children under fivewith fever in two weeks preceding

22.0

10

Urb

an

Rura

l

25.6

28.2

2nd P

oore

st

Qui

ntile

34.9

24.5

40

50

§= Percentage under five who tested slide +ve for malaria


200

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

Liberia (≈92)

Infant Mortality (reporting for previous decade)Probability of dying before first birthday

(LDHS 2007 Table 8.1/2/3)Deaths per 1,000 live births

Rural (99)

Urban (78)

S. Central (142)

Monrovia (69)

Poorest* (100)

Wealthiest* (70)

Uneducated mother (107)

Above secondary educated mother (59)

Category•Poorest/Wealthiest refers to lowest/highest 20% households (quintiles).Note: second lowest quintile shows similar infant mortality at 105.

Mother age <20 (122)

Mother age 20-29 (80)

2008 Sierra Leone (≈126)2005 Guinea (≈126)

1998 Cote d’Ivoire (≈98)

2008 Ghana (≈40)

Liberia – Equity and Inclusion Water AccessCurrent coverage, population per waterpoint and access by county

Waterpoint Atlas 2011

County Current Coverage(population within 1.5 miles

of a point)

Population per functional, in-use waterpoint*

Current Access(assuming point

capacity of max. 250 persons)

Bomi 95% 200 91%

Bong 54% 730 32%

Gbarpolu 55% 379 43%

Grand Bassa 55% 727 33%

Grand Cape Mount 73% 413 48%

Grand Gedeh 59% 684 34%

Grand Kru 64% 331 56%

Lofa 76% 531 43%

Margibi 80% 398 52%

Maryland 87% 446 52%

Montserrado 98% 686 35%

Nimba 68% 672 34%

River Gee 74% 359 53%

Rivercess 47% 504 36%

Sinoe 57% 447 47%

TOTAL 76% 552 40%

•Adjusted for number of taps on high-capacity waterpoints with multiple taps (e.g. kiosks)


20

10

Water Access and Prevalence of Diarrhea (LDHS 2007 Table 10.6)

Percentage under-five children who had diarrhea in the two weeks before survey

Mon

rovi

a

Mon

tser

rado

( - M

onro

via)

Mar

gibi

Gran

d Ba

ssa

Bom

i G

rand

Cap

e M

ount

Gbar

polu

Rive

r Ces

sSi

noe

Gran

d Ge

deh

Rive

r Gee

Gran

d Kr

uM

aryl

;and

Bong

N

imba

Lo

fa

Wea

lthie

st 2

0%

Poor

est 2

0%

20.6

9.8

18.0

27.9

22.8

19.0

19.3

50

100= % with Water Access

15

.5

Liberia – Equity and InclusionStunting

(LDHS 2007 Table 11.1)Percentage under-five children who were severely stunted (below – 3 SD height-for-age)

Mon

rovi

a

Mon

tser

rado

( - M

onro

via)

Mar

gibi

Gran

d Ba

ssa

Bom

i G

rand

Cap

e M

ount

Gbar

polu

Rive

r Ces

sSi

noe

Gran

d Ge

deh

Rive

r Gee

Gran

d Kr

uM

aryl

;and

Bong

N

imba

Lo

fa

Wea

lthie

st 2

0%

Poor

est 2

0%

17.3

14.3

23.3

25.9

25.4

11.0

25.9

20

25

% below – 3 SD

13.6

10

Urb

anRu

ral

14.1

23.2

Und

euca

ted

mot

her

21.2

12.6

Mot

her

post

-prim

ary


Distribution of Level 1 schools(primary school only)


Distribution of secondary schools


Core Textbooks Availableper 100 students in primary schools


Bom

i

Bong

Gran

d Ba

ssa

Gran

d Ca

pe M

ount

Gran

d Ge

deh

Gran

d Kr

u

Lofa

Mar

gibi

Mar

ylan

d

Mon

tser

rado

Nim

ba

Rive

rces

s

Sino

e

Rive

r Gee

Gbar

polu

Natio

nal

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200Gross Completion Ratio in Primary School

Ratio of students to trained teachersRatio of students to total teachers

GCR of girlsGCR of boys


!!2

!!2

!!2

Grand Bassa

MargibiMontserrado

Bomi

Rivercess

Bong

Bong

5 miles radius from Secondary School

Level 3 schools (primary and secondary)

Level 1 schools (primary only)

Population density (person/mile sq):0 - 5051 - 100101 - 500501 - 1000> 1000

Major roads

County capitalsClan boundariesCounty boundaries

2

Level 2 schools (secondary only)

. Town/village


!!2

!!2

!!2

Gbarpolu

Bong

Lofa

Grand Cape Mount

BomiMargibi

Lofa

MontserradoGrand Bassa

5 miles Radius from secondary school


Bom

i

Bong

Gran

d Ba

ssa

Gran

d Ca

pe M

ount

Gran

d Ge

deh

Gran

d Kr

u

Lofa

Mar

gibi

Mar

ylan

d

Mon

tser

rado

Nim

ba

Rive

rces

s

Sino

e

Rive

r Gee

Gbar

polu

(8,000)

(4,000)

0

4,000

8,000

12,000

16,000

20,000

Unexpected Additional/missing Girls 10-19 years old (Calculated from Census Population Profile)

Num

ber o

f Girl

s

ALP

Source: The 2008/2009 National School Census Report, Ministry of Education. 2010

20 %

40 %

60 %

80 %

100 %

Out of school girls


100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

Category

Percentage Aged 15-49 Having Education of Grade 6 or above

(LDHS 2007 Table 3.2.1/2)Percentage

Liberia (43.1)

Liberia Male (55.7)

Liberia Female (30.5)

F – Urban (53)

F – Rural (14)

F – Monrovia (58)

F – N. Central & N. West (16)

F – Wealthiest* (64)

* Wealthiest / Poorest 20% of households

F – Poorest* (8)

M – Urban (75)

M – Rural (43)

M – Monrovia (78)

M – N. West (40)

M – Wealthiest* (81)

M – Poorest* (31)

2008 – Sierra Leone – F (24.5)2005 - Guinea – F (22.5)

2008 – Sierra Leone – M (41.4)

2005 - Guinea – M (48.8)


• how well educated your mother was;• whether you are male or female; • whether you live around Monrovia and other

towns or in a rural area;• the county where you live;• how wealthy is your parental household.

So:- there is no such thing as an average Liberian!

It all depends on:


So: will things never change in Liberia? YES, they can!

The President has publicly committed to: Putting young people first and lifting the lives of all Liberians; Paying special attention to girls; Reducing inequities, ensuring equal opportunity and

providing guarantees of social justice; Improving quality of life for ALL citizens; Reconciliation that depends on:

empowering youth, creating jobs and opportunity spreading development to all justice in dealing with the past justice in processes of government and law justice in economic development


UNICEF is committed to: Protecting girls and boys from anything that harms them; Supporting their ambitions for education and skills; Delaying their age of marriage so they can fulfill their dreams; Enabling young people to be at peace with themselves and their

communities; Young women having relationships and children by choice; Improving maternal health; Ensuring good nutrition & nurture, protected from disease, in infancy; Ensuring that ALL children have ALL rights; Ensuring equity in access to basic services and equal outcomes for all; Supporting a Liberian and a Child Wellbeing Index; Providing girls and boys, men and women with equal opportunities; Increasing participation of women and young people in decision making

UNICEF is supporting Liberia’s new Poverty Reduction Strategy and Transformation Agenda


UNICEF THANKS YOU for your concern for Equity and Inclusion!

Documents

Liberia – Equity & Inclusion