-World Bank Says; As It Launches a Report on Poverty in Liberia

The World Bank Group is reporting that roughly one million Liberians are living in extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations as “a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information.”

Making this disclosure, the World Bank Liberia Office Country Manager, Ms. Georgia Wallen, said in addition to this grimed revelation, 2.5 million people, which are nearly half of this West African nation’s population, live in ‘absolute poverty.’

Ms. Wallen made the disclosure when her entity launched the Liberia Poverty Assessment Report 2023: Pathways Towards Economic Security on Monday, March 18, 2024, in Monrovia.

“The report finds that nearly six out of every 10 Liberians live in poverty based on the national poverty line. And in the context of multiple crisis, the plight of the poor has worsened, and the number of people in poverty have increased. Roughly 1,000,000 Liberians live in extreme poverty and 2.5 million in absolute poverty. The large numbers can sometimes be hard to grasp. But behind the numbers are individuals,” she said.

Ms. Wallen further stated that the Bank’s Poverty Assessment shows that face of poverty in Liberia is a young face. Adding: “It is more likely to be a female. And it is much more likely to come from a rural area. It is the face of someone who has had little or no access to education, healthcare, and basic services like water and sanitation.”

Speaking on behalf of the Liberian Government, Deputy Finance Minister Dehpue Zuo said Liberia at the moment stands at a very important point and that the Administration of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is here to take the country to the finished line of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2023.

“One of the key points in international development is to make that poverty is reduced. Liberia, being a resource-based country in terms of natural resources, we still experience high level of poverty, therefore is a contradiction to the rest of world in terms of development,” the Deputy Finance Minister said.

Mr. Zuo, who once served as a Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, further said that the under the Boakai-led Administration’s vision, in order to develop Liberia, there are key areas, including agriculture, in which Liberia has comparative advantage. “That is his area of expertise; he has decided to prioritize agriculture under the ARREST Agenda.”

According to the Bank, poverty assessments are a core diagnostic of it. Its purpose is to assess the extent and causes of poverty in a country and recommend strategies to reduce poverty and promote shared prosperity on a livable planet.

The Bank’s Board of Directors requests poverty assessments be undertaken every five years in countries to help inform and shape the Country Partnership Framework (CPF).

“Poverty in Liberia remains a formidable challenge, with over half of the population still living below the poverty line. Understanding the underlying causes and potential pathways out of poverty are essential for making meaningful progress to improve living standards and livelihoods.

“The lack of recently collected household living standards survey data presents a major obstacle to monitor poverty incidence and inform policy. Liberia successfully implemented a new population census last year—this is a great achievement—but the most recent survey available to estimate monetary poverty was collected in 2016, almost 10 years ago,” Johan Mistiaen, Practice Manager, World Bank Office in Liberia, said.

The Poverty Assessment for Liberia provides a set of policy recommendations organized into four pillars. The first pillar looks at the growth performance over the past few years with its impact on poverty and presents characteristics of the country’s poor. The second pillar reviews what occurred during COVID-19 and its implication for the population. The third pillar analyzes Liberia’s human capital and the potential risks faced by climate change. The fourth and last pillar discusses the role of agriculture and challenges for further agricultural development.

The Bank hopes that its evidence-based analysis will feed into the ongoing public debate on appropriate and effective policies to tackle poverty and inequality, while also ensuring that existing policies are implemented more efficiently and effectively.