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Executive Summary
Emerging from a prolonged civil war, the Government
and people of Liberia are faced with daunting challenges of rebuilding their
war-torn society and ensuring that widespread and severe poverty is reduced
as quickly as possible. The concept and principles of sustainable human
development within a democratic framework have direct relevance to this
peace building and reconstruction process. Publication of Liberia’s first National Human Development Report, therefore,
comes at a timely moment in the transition from conflict to stable peace and
sustainable development, and provides a baseline against which progress can
be judged.
Liberia joins more than one hundred countries that have prepared
such reports, as part of UNDP's global advocacy of a more human-centred
approach to development.
Organisation of the Report
The Report is divided into six chapters: Background; What is Human Development?;
Human Development in Liberia; Governance and Human Development in Liberia; Challenges of Enhancing Human Development in Liberia in the 21 Century; and Conclusions and
Recommendations.
Background
The scene is set in the first chapter with a description of human geography and an
analysis of the country’s political, economic and social history, which
are essential to understanding Liberia’s current circumstances.
A major contributory factor to political instability and civil
conflict has been the low level of social integration and cohesion, which is
attributed to the country’s unique origins, dating back to the abolition
of slavery in the early nineteenth century. Deriving its name from the Latin
word “Liberitas,” meaning freedom, the primary reason for creating
Liberia as to provide a safe haven for freed slaves of African
descent from North America. The integration of various groups of freed slaves and
indigenous Africans posed a major challenge from the outset, and failure to
do so has had far reaching repercussions. Society remains polarised and
strong tensions persist, which fuelled the turmoil that preceded transition
to democracy in July 1997.
Liberia’s economic history is a classic example of “growth without development.” Although the country is
richly endowed with natural and human resources, these have not been
utilised to ensure equitable, broad-based and sustainable growth and
development because of weak macro-economic policies and lack of serious
commitment to social justice on the part of past governments. This
long-standing, unequal pattern of economic growth and declining livelihood
opportunities for an increasing proportion of the population, combined with
a prolonged period of poor governance and social exclusion, have all
contributed to the country’s long-term economic and social decline, which
culminated in the civil war in 1989.
Against this background, the peaceful transition to democratic governance in July
1997 has created a positive environment for accelerated economic recovery
and improvement in the country’s state of human development. However,
attainment of this objective requires not only a focus on repairing war
damage, but also generation of higher rates of poverty-reducing growth,
creation of livelihood sources, particularly for the poor and unemployed
youth and promotion of greater social cohesion and reduction of imbalances
within society, notably gender inequality. Above all, it also requires
adherence to the basic principles of good governance to ensure a peaceful
environment and genuine popular participation in the development process,
which are vital to sustainable growth.
The introductory chapter provides a valuable insight on the paradox of Liberia’s historical development experience: that amidst an
abundance of national, human and physical capital resources, the attainment
of desired levels of equitable growth and development has been an elusive
goal for much of the country’s history. The root causes of Liberia’s weak and inequitable pattern of growth and
development and the persisting political and social instability, which
culminated in the civil war can be traced back to how
Liberia was founded as a nation in the 19th century
and the way it has been governed subsequently. Given these historical
antecedents, the preconditions for advances in human development and
long-term stability include: consolidation of peace and democracy; a more
judicious and equitable exploitation of the country’s natural resources;
accelerated poverty reduction; and strict adherence to the principles of
good governance. Although these principles are embedded in the National
Reconstruction Plan, the challenge, as always, is to turn them into reality.
Concept of Human Development
To better
appreciate the concept of human development and underscore its relevance as
a guiding principle for Liberia’s transition process, the second chapter presents a
conceptual framework and analytical tool for its assessment. The human
development paradigm has emerged over the past two decades from widespread
disillusionment with the economic growth models that have dominated
development thinking in the post World War II era. This disillusionment was
triggered by the unfavourable experiences of various countries, including
Liberia, which, despite achieving high rates of economic growth
during the 1950s and 1960s, failed to improve living standards for the
majority of their populations. Economic growth cannot, therefore, be equated
automatically with development, which requires a much broader based means of
assessment.
This new
measurement of development was underpinned by the ground-breaking work of
the late Mahbub ul Haq, and detailed analysis of the impact of structural
adjustment programmes on children and workers’ welfare by UNICEF and ILO.
The writings of the Nobel Laureate, Professor Amartya Sen on inequality and
poverty also contributed significantly to substantiating the human
development concept.
The
search for an alternative quantitative measure of development, led to the
formulation of the Human Development Index (HDI). This index is a composite
of three key broad development indicators: longevity, represented by life
expectancy at birth; knowledge, indicated by adult literacy and school
enrolment; and living standard, represented by per capita income. Together,
these indicators are intended to capture the ideals of development in a
society, which are for people to lead long, healthy and productive lives.
Other
indicators of human development are also introduced, including the
Gender-related Development Index (GDI), which disaggregates women’s and
men’s development; the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), which delineates
the relative political and economic power of women and men; and the Human
Poverty Index (HPI), which provides a composite measure of reduced life
expectancy, illiteracy, inadequate nutrition and limited access to health
services and drinking water.
Human Development in Liberia
This
chapter analyses in detail the state of human development in Liberia
. It focuses on trends, in
both quantitative and qualitative terms, in the major determining factors of
human development, notably poverty-reducing economic growth, creation of
employment opportunities and sustainable livelihoods, social services
provision, particularly in the areas of education, health and sanitation,
promotion of women's empowerment and gender equity, environmental protection
and regeneration, and good governance.
This is followed by the presentation
and analysis of the various development indices, including the Human
Development Index (HDI), the Human Poverty Index (HPI) and components of the
Gender-related Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure
(GEM), computed from the latest available secondary and primary data
collected during the course of this study. To provide a broader perspective,
the chapter starts with a brief comparison of the state of human development
in Liberia and other countries in the sub-region, the average for
Sub-Saharan Africa and developing countries as a whole.
The Human
Development Index for Liberia in 1999, which includes measures of longevity, knowledge
and living standard, was 0.276; ranking the country 174th out of
175 countries worldwide, marginally ahead of Sierra Leone
With life
expectancy at birth being 42.3 years, adult literacy rate 31.2%, gross
school enrolment 58.8%, and real gross domestic product per capita PPP$225,
the indices for life expectancy, educational attainment and real GDP that
contribute to the overall HDI were 0.288, 0.404 and 0.135, respectively.
Governance and Human Development
Chapter
four examines the notion of governance and reviews Liberia
’s experience with the process since its foundation to
the present day. Following a series of symposia and national debates, a
consensus has emerged amongst Liberia’s leaders, policy makers, private sector and civil
society that persistent bad governance in the past was a primary cause of
the country’s social and economic decline that led to political crisis and
culminated in civil war.
The
peaceful transition to democratically elected government in July 1997 has
created a unique opportunity for Liberians to rebuild their country to
ensure peace and stability through sustainable growth and development.
Essential to this process are: nurturing and sustaining mechanisms for
peaceful resolution of conflicts; full restoration of constitutionalism and
the rule of law; effective separation of powers, through strengthening the
legislature and judiciary, among others; revitalisation of political
parties; and strengthening of civil society organisations, as well as
restructuring public sector institutions.
Enhancing Human Development in Liberia in the Twenty First Century
Liberia
faces the daunting task of
reversing current trends and enhancing human development. Chapter five
identifies and discusses some of the major challenges for the future: i) the
challenge of consolidating peace; ii) the challenge of sustaining democratic
governance; iii) the challenge of ensuring high rates of poverty-reducing
growth and development; iv) the challenge of protecting the environment; v)
the challenge of creating employment and sustainable livelihoods; and vi)
the challenge of promoting more equitable social development. Meeting these
challenges will require inspired leadership, political will, co-operation
and international support.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The analysis of human development in
Liberia presented in this report, demonstrates clearly the
country’s generally poor performance, compared with most other developing
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world. Key contributory
factors are identified as: long term economic and social decline; prolonged
poor governance; failure to harness the country's considerable growth
potential for broad-based development; and the devastating seven-year civil
conflict that has aggravated all other factors.
The Government of Liberia has embraced the principle of sustainable
human development in its National Reconstruction Programme (NRP) and the
recommendations of this study are intended to compliment and strengthen that
programme.
Creation and Maintenance of an
Enabling Environment for Sustainable Human Development.
This is essential for future advances in human development. The encouraging
gains made so far in the peace building and democratisation process should
be strengthened and extended through: continued efforts at reconciliation
and peaceful resolution of conflicts; adherence to the rule of law and
respect for human rights; establishment of better equipped and more
professional security forces; restructuring the public administration
system; and maintenance of sound macro-economic environment.
Acceleration of Poverty Reducing Economic
Growth. The relatively rapid pace of Liberia's economic growth attained since 1997 is encouraging,
given the importance of rapid economic growth for poverty reduction and
improvement of living conditions. However, in the light of the extremely low
base upon which this growth has been taking place, there is need to
accelerate the pace of recovery, diversify its sources and build effective
linkages with poverty reducing activities. This is underscored by
reaffirmation of commitments, at the Geneva Meeting on Social Development
2000, to reduce severe poverty by 50%, by the year 2020.
Creation of Employment and
Sustainable Livelihood Opportunities.
Employment and sustainable livelihood opportunities are of critical
importance to enhancing human development. The previous long-term decline of
the Liberian economy has greatly reduced employment opportunities and
sources of livelihood for a large segment of the population. Specific
recommendations for stimulating employment opportunities include:
maintaining a market friendly macro-economic environment and regulatory
regime; promotion of small and medium-scale enterprises; modernisation of
the informal sector; and provision of adequate credit for the indigenous
private sector. Linking poverty reduction activities to international trade,
as proposed by UNCTAD and UNDP, is recommended as a potentially important
instrument for creating sustainable livelihood sources.
Environmental Protection and
Regeneration. There is urgent need for the
government of Liberia to establish policies and measures that will ensure
judicious management of the country's rich but rapidly dwindling natural
resources, as well as containing long-standing environmental problems. The
latter include deforestation, soil and coastal erosion, urban decay and
overcrowding, coupled with unsanitary living conditions, industrial and
mining pollution and depletion of fishery resources. Specific
recommendations made with respect to containing emerging environmental
problems in Liberia focus on strengthening the institutional, policy and
legal framework for overseeing and enforcing environmental protection. These
measures include: allocation of adequate resources for sound management of
natural resources; launching of environmental awareness raising measures;
active involvement of NGOs and local communities in campaigning; and linking
income generating activities to specific environmental protection schemes,
such as those implemented in Lesotho and The Gambia.
Social Sector Development
is a vital aspect of human development. Declining social sector investment
over the past two decades has been a major contributory factor in the
country's current state of human development. Basic health, education and
reproductive health in particular, are vitally important for sustainable
development. Specific measures recommended in this report for reversing this
trend in Liberia include: phased increases in budgetary allocations to the
social sector towards fulfilment of the 20/20 compact, which the Government
committed itself to at the 1995 Copenhagen World Conference for Social
Development; and emphasis on basic education, primary health care and
rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities. In this context, it is
acknowledged that government has already initiated innovative schemes in the
social sector, such as the accelerated learning and mass literacy
programmes, as well as the countrywide anti polio campaign, which are
yielding quick results at relatively low cost. Promotion of Women's
Empowerment and Gender Equality. Given that
women constitute 50% of Liberia's population on one hand and their historically
disadvantaged position vis-à-vis men on the other, empowering them is
essential to the attainment of human development objectives in the country.
Constraints identified in this report that have impeded women's active
participation in economic, social and political decisions, include
discriminatory laws and cultural practices, heavy burden of domestic chores
relative to men and limited access to productive assets, education and
health facilities. Recommend-ations for promoting gender equality include:
capacity building and institutional strengthening within government and
civil society for the promotion and implementation of a gender equity
initiatives, effective implementation of the Convention on the Elimination
of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), enhancing political
participation rates of women, increasing access of women and young girls to
basic social services and productive assets, as well as mainstreaming gender
in public policy.
Strengthening
International Co-operation in Support of Human Development.
Given the country's current financial resource constraints, adequate
external assistance for Liberia's recovery efforts over the short to medium term is
critical to enhancing human development in the country. Currently, the
implementation of the NRP has been constrained by inadequate external
support. Recommendations made in this report for rekindling donor support
and reversing the downward trend in external assistance include:
constructive engagement with donors, particularly with respect to resolution
of donor concerns about security and governance issues; image building; and
launching innovative resource mobilisation initiatives, such as donor tracking
missions and community assistance schemes.
In the light of UNDP's mandate to promote sustainable human
development and the important pioneering role it has played in rekindling
intellectual interest in a human centred approach to development, it has a
critical supporting role vis-à-vis the enhancement of human development in
Liberia. Its role in this regard is also consistent with the United Nations
goal of strengthening linkages between peace and sustainable human
development in post-conflict countries. UNDP's current cycle of co-operation
with
Liberia, through the Country Co-operation Framework covering
2000-2002 is focused on two key areas:
promotion of good
governance and sound economic management; and
poverty reduction
and creation of sustainable livelihoods.
UNDP plans to make maximum impact on
the enhancement of human development in Liberia through support for: the
process of peace consolidation and the maintenance of a sound economic
management framework, more supportive of poverty reduction; national
reconciliation; rebuilding a database on human development; preparation of
annual HDRs to underpin periodic poverty assessments and formulation of
integrated poverty reduction schemes; promotion of the empowerment of women
and gender equity; and a sound institutional and policy framework for
environmental protection and regeneration. |