CHAPTER THREE
3.8 Rethinking the Human Development Crisis in Liberia
considerable resources it invested in bringing about relative peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone being sabotaged by political manipulations at the sub-regional level.
experiences of various third world countries, these Bretton Woods structures have gained notoriety for visiting socio-economic hardships on citizens through their neo-liberal incentives which is more often than not, capable of rolling back the state under the pretext of guaranteeing them a social safety net (UNMIL, 2007:11).
For a better understanding of the crisis of underdevelopment which the Liberian state faces, this study examines the economic and social dimensions of the crisis.
The Economic Dimension
Table 1: Liberia’s Economic Development Indicators, 1985 -2009
Indicator 1985 2009
Unemployment 85 68
Poverty Rate (%) (percentage of People Living on less than
$1/day)
86.1 76.2
Sources: the United Nations Development Program, Liberia: Human Development Report, 2010, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010:1) and the United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report, 1990, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990:132).
The economic indicators shown in table 1 vividly capture the two most important indices for the measurement of the human development crisis in Liberia: unemployment and the poverty rate. As shown in table 1, in 1985 85% of Liberians were unemployed; by 2009, the figure had dropped to 68%. The percentage of Liberians living in abject poverty in 1985 stood at 86.1%, thus implying that only about 13.9% of the country‟s 1.5 million citizens were living above the poverty line. Twenty-four years later, in 2009, the figure dropped slightly to 76.2%. These economic indicators imply that little has changed in the country, six years after the war ended (2003).
This brings to the fore the seeming inability of the state to overcome the damaging consequences of the 13-year war and it further exposes the inability of the government to
formulate and implement the requisite policies that could help create enough jobs to free the Liberian people from the tightening net of deprivation and abject poverty. It is important to note that this does not suggest that the Liberian state is where it is today because of the effects of the war alone. While this was partly responsible for its stagnation and endemic poverty, it is also imperative to note, that the socio-economic and political configuration of the Liberian state since independence tends towards to a neo-colonial construct where the few (Americo-Liberians) have maintained an overwhelming hegemony over the majority (Natives). It may take some time and it will also require a focused and visionary government to address these structural and system inadequacies which continue to widen the gap between the rich and the poor.
The Social Dimension(s)
Table 2 below presents a more comprehensive analysis of the prevailing social conditions in Liberia. It shows that while there have been some improvements in crucial areas of people‟s lives, there has also been a measure of stagnation or further retrogression in people‟s standard of living. In 1985, the country‟s population stood at more than 1.1 million people; by 2009 the population has increased to more than 3.6 million. While there appears to be an appreciable level of improvement in the adult literacy level, no data were available in 1985 to measure illiteracy. However, the 2009 figures show that about 43.17% of the country‟s population could still not read and write.
Regarding the adult and child mortality rate, the indicators are not encouraging; the situation appears to be degenerating, except for the relatively stagnant death rate which shows that Liberians are struggling to hold on, even in the face of uncertainty. In 2009, at least 72 out of every 1,000 children died at birth, the maternal mortality rate was pegged at 578 out of every 100,000 Liberians. Only about 31.64% of Liberia‟s 3.6 million people have access to education, and only about 46% of the population has access to health care. As noted by Ero, (2005), these indices reflect a country that is yet to fully come to terms with the catastrophic consequences of a war, estimated to have cost more than 150, 000 lives and rendered more than 200,000 people homeless.
Again, it is imperative to note that those worst hit by these negative scenarios are the natives in Liberia; the reasons are not hard to find. For the better part of its history, the Liberian state
has been characterized by socio-political and economic discrimination. This is reminiscent of the relationship which existed between the feudal lords (America-Liberians) and the serfs (natives); adding to this is the age-long distrust within Liberian society itself, (particularly among the natives) which is unrepentantly divided along ethnic lines. In states with these kinds of prevailing circumstances, it is more difficult for things to return to normal after two catastrophic civil wars. Certainly, considerable progress in socio-economic conditions will require more time.
Table 2: Liberia's Social Human Development Indicators, 1985 – 2009
Indicator 1985 2009
Population (in Millions) 1.1 3.62
Adult literacy rate (%) 54 63.74
Illiteracy Rate (%) NA 43.17
Adult mortality (probability of people dying between the ages of 18- 59 per 100,000)
578 994
Child mortality (probability of children dying under the age of 5 years) per 1,000 population
78 114.60
Death rate (%) per 1,000 population 10 10.97
Life expectancy (years) 55 47
Infant Mortality rate (%) (per 1,000 live Births) NA 72
Maternal Mortality Rate ( per 100,000 live Births) NA 578
People with access to access to Education (%) NA 31.46
People with access to health services (%) 39 46
Sources: United Nations Development Program, Liberia: Millennium Development Goals Report, 2010 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010:1) and the Ministry of
Planning and Economic Affairs, Economic Surveys of Liberia, (Monrovia: Government Printing Office, 1986)
The Consequences of the Crisis
As Zounmenou (2008:8), puts it, “the summary of the perennial human development crisis in Liberia is likeable to a termite that has eaten deep into the fabric of the Liberian society”.
The dimensions of the crisis, reflected in the areas outlined above, show that the country is yet to fully recover from the devastating effects of the post Doe and Taylor eras. The accumulative effects of years of redundancy and stagnation, decades of unmitigated poverty, a nearly non-existent health care system, a lack of portable water and a systemic culture of poor sanitation has made it practically impossible for the majority of Liberians to maximize their human potential that could see them live a healthy and economically productive life.