New Democrat (Monrovia)
9 December 2011
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has released statistics that are scary for what they represent.
In its recent press release announcing that it has received euro2.4m, about US3m for its work amongst the poorest of the poor in the country, it said 48% of the estimated 3.5m people in Liberia are “extremely poor.” Worst, 50,000 households are extremely disadvantaged, meaning they are worst off than the extremely poor.
If 48% are “extremely poor,” then what can be concluded is that over 50% is poor, better off than the ‘extremely poor.
“Despite successive years of economic growth, levels of poverty remain extremely high in Liberia. It is estimated that out of the 48% below the extreme poverty line, 50,000 households are extremely disadvantaged, labour-constrained and highly food insecure.
“The Social Cash Transfer Pilot Scheme was initiated in 2009 by the Government of Liberia to protect these children and families from food insecurity and the general deprivation caused by extreme poverty and household composition.
“Supported by UNICEF with financial grants from the European Union and the Government of Japan, the scheme was piloted in Bomi County because of its exceptionally high level of food insecurity, as identified in the 2006 Comprehensive Food Security and Nutrition Survey.”
Proclaimed growth without development is however not a new economic phenomenon in a country founded on the pillars of entrenching power. At its best in the 1950s and 60s in terms of the abundance of extractive resources, Liberia was hailed as having the second growth rate globally only to Japan.
But this did not translate into education and infrastructure, so that the country now registers one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world and is plagued with a mediocre education system incapable of fostering development.
“Month by month, the Social Cash Transfer Programme is making a real and lasting difference in the lives of the most disadvantaged children and families in Bomi County. And we must commend the commitment and hard work of the government of Liberia in leading this initiative,” said Ms. Isabel Crowley, UNICEF Representative.
UNICEF: “UNICEF is very grateful to the European Union for this additional grant of 2.4 million Euros which will help us expand this innovative programme to disadvantaged families in other parts of the country.”
Naturally, the euro 2.4m will not do much to narrow such escalating poverty around the country. The project is confined to one area–Bomi County. Much of that money will go towards ‘administrative costs’, travels, vehicles, salaries, etc. While NGOs are relevant in poor societies, it is hard to find a success story of NGOs alleviating poverty. NGOs are useful where poverty is, and without poverty, they are out of business. The recent disasters in Haiti, where NGOs flocked and left the people in many areas worst off despite the millions given in their name, is a case in point. Liberia, years from now when most of the NGOs pack off and leave, will not be that different. But something is better than nothing.
But UNICEF’s statistics, sources unknown, are frightening.
Commenting on the UNICEF statistics, the economist-politician, Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh, referred to the ‘extremely poor” in the society as ‘the walking dead’. He made an analogy of growth, saying there are many ways to measure growth. A child can become resourceful or utterly useless, he said.
Liberia has registered growth over the decades, but it remains amongst the world’s poorer countries, largely because of the gross economic mismanagement that the political elite spearheaded.
Francis W. Nyepon, in a 2006 paper ‘Liberia: How should poverty be alleviated to propel growth?’ argued:
“Alleviation in Liberia; one would argue, relies solely on education, employment and income generation. By creating a knowledge-based economy, the Sirleaf administration could be producing wealth, prosperity and growth all at once, since productivity will be the single most effective engine that will drive the country’s economic growth, in order to alleviating poverty in both urban and rural sectors.
“This paper argues that it is this kind of discussion that needs to take place in Liberia in order to spur new ideas for change; hence poverty alleviation, rather than allegations that members of the opposition are behind the wave of crimes allegedly committed by the notorious Isakaba criminal gang in Monrovia, or those who would be so reckless and over zealous as to readily apprehend individuals for simply speculating or publicly discussing ill-conceived policy implementation by the Sirleaf administration.
Liberians must recognize however, that our society will have to change from within rather than the other way around, which this author calls breeding ideas to ignite social value for competitive advantage.
By the same token, policymakers will have to recognize the fact that change will only come through knowledge, after all, Liberia is not so much the country of our birth or place of origin; but it is a way of life, a state of mind, which can never be cast aside out of fear or intimidation.
To this end then, the country can only seek to advance its utility as a collective, and not through pockets of individuals or groups based on ethnicity or social status. Moreover, in order for the country to become successful, the Sirleaf administration must adopt a comprehensive strategy centered on education.”
Decades of neglect, shortsighted policies that ignore the population, now present a real specter of calamity with growing number of what UNICEF calls the “extremely poor”, poorer than the poor.
And the numbers keep rising, like floodwaters with nothing to stop them. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in an interview with this paper weeks ago, expressed fears that as she tours the country, ‘There are too many babies.” These babies, often with one mother having 5 children and 5 different fathers, are society’s nightmare as they join the ‘walking dead’, according to Dr. Tipoteh.
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