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Three children sit at a desk smiling at the camera

Liberia

Liberia is currently ranked 175 out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), one of the poorest nations on earth, where 41% of the population lives below the poverty line

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Where we work

Life in Liberia

Liberia, known officially as the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Guinea to the north, Sierra Leone to the north-west, Ivory Coast to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south/south-east. Liberia was founded in 1822 as a result of the American Colonisation Society’s efforts to settle freed American slaves in West Africa.  The settlement known as Christopolis was renamed Monrovia after American President James Monroe, and the colony was formally named Liberia (the free land).

Liberia is considered to be one of the most ethnically diverse nations on the planet, with more than 30 native Liberian languages in regular use.  English is  commonly spoken as a means of connecting people from different regions.

Liberia’s children suffered greatly as a result of a brutal 14-year civil war, which destroyed the majority of schools and forced most of the country’s children out of the classroom. .

Despite a decade of unbroken peace, Liberia still faces huge challenges to re-establishing its education system. More than 50% of all students do not complete primary school and 77% of the country’s poorest girls between the ages of 7 and 16 have never been to school.  In Liberia, people struggle to find enough food to feed their families.

The country is also still dealing with the legacy of the 2014/15 Ebola outbreak, when the disease closed schools, crippled economies and wiped out livelihoods.  It’s likely Covid-19 will leave a similarly debilitating legacy.

Three children sit in a row at a desk facing ahead and smiling
A woman facing the camera leans over and stirs a large steaming pot
A woman bends down to hand a small child sitting on an overturned basket a bowl as they smile at each other
A child sits on a chair in front of a blackboard with a bowl on their lap, putting a spoonful of food into their mouth

Mary's Meals in Liberia

Mary’s Meals has been providing aid in Liberia since 1992 – our early work there included a mobile health clinic for difficult-to-reach regions – and our school feeding programme began in 2006.

We are the sole provider of school feeding programmes in Bong County.  We also deliver our programme in Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Montserrado counties.

We are currently feeding 157,439 children in 625 schools.  The schools we support are mainly in remote and often inaccessible areas.  Delivering food to these schools, deep in the jungle, via off-road routes, is particularly challenging in rainy season (May-October) when monsoons are common.  In addition, the availability of local produce is limited. 

While we strive to source as much of our food locally as possible, it is sometimes necessary to order from further afield – as much as five months in advance – to ensure we can keep our promise to feed the hungry children we serve in Liberia.

When did we start working in Liberia?

We have been working in Liberia since 1992

How many children do we feed in Liberia?

We are currently feeding 157,439 children in 625 schools in Liberia

What meal do we provide?

A typical school meal is rice and peas. (Some schools have successful vegetable gardens where they grow additional food for the meals.)

Where are we based/where do we operate?

Bong County. We also deliver our programme in Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Montserrado counties

Capital City

Monrovia

Population

5.2 million

Currency

Liberian Dollar (LRD)