So tell me about Liberia then

When mentioning to friends and family that I'm about to go and work in Liberia I am never quite sure what reaction to expect from them. Those with no illusions about their world geography normally just exclaim "where?", others confuse it with a Spanish Airline whereas movie lovers may well remember Nicholas Cage in Lord of War and ask exactly what line of work it is I'm actually in!

As many reading this will know I have been working for a development NGO (we're not allowed to say charity) called ActionAid for about two years at the newly established office in Stockholm. In September of last year I applied for a placement with the same organisation working in the enigmatically entitled department for "International Partnership Development". The job involves a stint working in one of our smaller offices in Africa to engage with donor agencies in order to identify (and hopefully secure) new sources of funding for our projects there.

As a country, one could say that Liberia has been through quite a bit. It was founded by the USA as a country to which freed slaves of African origin could be returned after the abolition. Apparently though nobody told the people already living there that their lands had been selected for this purpose. In 1847 Liberia declared independence and what ensued was as unbelieveable as it was unfortunate. A constitution and system of government were created based on that of the USA. However, the sense of deja vu ran much deeper that that as the newly settled Americo-Liberians did not extend citizenship or voting rights to the indigenous population. The latter were even subjected to forced labour which, considering the background of the new settlers, is more than slightly ironic.

The domination of the Americo-Liberians continued for over a century. In 1980 a coup was carried out under the command of Samuel Doe, who was of indigenous descent. However this was not the start of happier times for Liberia's population. The country was isolated by its trading partners and the economy went to ruin. In 1989 rebels led by Charles Taylor (a former minister in Doe's government) began an insurgency. The insurgents then split and another group lead by Prince Johnson soon turned the situation into a three-way civil war. Taylor's forces eventually dominated and after a series of peace accords and elections Taylor became president in 1997. Any peace was however shortlived and fighting again broke out and went on in some form or another until 2003 when Taylor was forced into exile in Nigeria. He is now on trial for war crimes in The Hague.

Decades of fighting have come at a high price, both human and financial. It is estimated that around 200,000 Liberians lost their lives during the civil wars with much of the killing carried out by child soldiers. Many more people were displaced. As well as guns, rape was often used as a weapon of war meaning HIV/AIDS is also a serious problem. Apart from the need to fully reconcile the different factions the country is in the process of more or less rebuilding itself from scratch. The capital has no power grid with generators being the only source of electricity. Roads, bridges and buildings were destroyed and the economy is a mess with around 85% unemployment and massive external debt. Most of the former combatants have no more than a basic level of schooling and so education is also top of the agenda in order to prevent people taking up arms again.

Today however people talk of a new hope in the country. In 2006 former World Bank economist, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became Liberia's president and with it the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa. She has already managed to achieve cancellation of a large part of Liberia's foreign debt and, it would seem, brought a new sense of optimism to a population in dire need of exactly that.

So, this is the backdrop to my work with ActionAid in Liberia. I'm feeling pretty nervous about moving to a new country where I don't know anybody and have no idea about local customs but at the same time very excited to be able to live in a place that is going through such an exciting and positive transition. If all goes according to plan I will be arriving in the capital, Monrovia, on February 2nd and be away for somewhere between 6-9 months.

Watch this space...
/Adam