Improving Access to Water and Sanitation in Liberia

Many rural and urban residents in Liberia lack access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation in their communities. According to the 2006 Comprehensive Food Security and Nutrition Survey, although water is abundant in Liberia, only 32% of all households surveyed had access to safe drinking water. The Survey also found that less than a quarter of the households surveyed had access to an improved sanitary facility, usually a public pit latrine. In areas that were worst affected by the civil crisis, and in others where road access is difficult, residents struggle to get safe drinking water, and are constrained to drink water from creeks and streams. The Government of Liberia concludes that ‘water, sewerage and treatment facilities are out of operation, except for a limited supply of water in parts of Monrovia, and that garbage collection ranges from minimal to non-existent’ (Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy – final draft). During the rainy season, poor water and sanitation and hygienic practices contribute to an increase in cholera and other water-borne diseases.

More than 95 international and local NGOs and UN agencies are engaged in providing water and sanitation facilities in the country. The interventions include borehole drilling, shallow well rehabilitation/construction, family, institutional and communal latrine construction/rehabilitation, hygiene promotion, response to disease outbreaks and emergencies, and capacity building (training). As of November 2006 over 1,000 wells fitted with hand pumps and 350 latrines have either been constructed or rehabilitated. However, due to inadequate reporting by agencies, it is believed the actual number of water and sanitary facilities constructed or rehabilitated in 2006 may be higher. Hygiene promotion is maintained alongside construction or rehabilitation activities. The WATSAN Cluster led by UNICEF and three Government line ministries coordinate activities of agencies involved in water and sanitation (WATSAN) at the national level. At the county level, coordination is done through sector working groups. The Government of Liberia is reviewing plans to take over coordination of Cluster activities. Coordination activities include monthly Cluster and sector meetings, joint assessments and monitoring, coordinated response to emergencies and other needs, and maintenance of activities database.

The Government of Liberia has set a target of providing nine water treatment facilities in fifteen counties of Liberia to provide safe drinking water to residents by June 2008. The long-term targets set for the Millennium Development Goals for Liberia seek to provide coverage of 63% for both improved water supply and sanitation for all residents. In line with Government’s objective of ‘increasing safe drinking water and improved sanitation for all in both urban and rural areas’ the WATSAN Cluster has set out its priorities for assistance in 2007 to include participatory community hygiene promotion in cholera hot spots, construction of new facilities and rehabilitation of old facilities in areas of relative low coverage (Lofa, Grand Kru, River Gee, Sinoe, Rivercess and Gbarpolu Counties), and integration of mechanisms for maintenance of all WATSAN facilities, improving urban water supply in main towns, rapid emergency response and information management capacity building of local NGOs, and update of WATSAN information systems. Overall, a concerted effort to coordinate and monitor agencies’ activities is crucial to avoid duplication, ensure efficient use of resources and steer agencies’ activities in line with the Government priorities.

Courtesy of UNMIL Coordination Section (HCS)
November 2 - December 3, 2006