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FROM THE FIELD

Liberia is the litmus test for the rich world's commitment to Africa
13 Feb 2007 10:00:00 GMT
Source: International Save the Children Alliance
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A baby patient being seen at the Gbartala clinic. The Gbartala 
clinic was renovated by Save the Children UK.. A baby patient being seen at the Gbartala clinic. The Gbartala clinic was renovated by Save the Children UK. SCUK pays for drugs for the clinic and pays 
staff an 'extra allowance' on top of the national salary the state pays. The state hasn't been paying so our cash is their only salary, however we need to maintain that staff 
are employed by ministry of health in order to better build the strength of the ministry. In Gbartala we were seeking a more appropriate location for a new health centre, which the local community 
were finding. The would dig the sand and gravel and make the bricks, we would buy the cement and pay the local men to build it for the community. At this clinic local men slept in the building at 
night to protect the drugs. (Copyright: Gar Powell Evans, Save the Children
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A baby patient being seen at the Gbartala clinic. The Gbartala clinic was renovated by Save the Children UK.. A baby patient being seen at the Gbartala clinic. The Gbartala clinic was renovated by Save the Children UK. SCUK pays for drugs for the clinic and pays staff an 'extra allowance' on top of the national salary the state pays. The state hasn't been paying so our cash is their only salary, however we need to maintain that staff are employed by ministry of health in order to better build the strength of the ministry. In Gbartala we were seeking a more appropriate location for a new health centre, which the local community were finding. The would dig the sand and gravel and make the bricks, we would buy the cement and pay the local men to build it for the community. At this clinic local men slept in the building at night to protect the drugs. (Copyright: Gar Powell Evans, Save the Children
•  Liberian reconstruction

As donors gather in Washington this week, Save the Children is calling on rich countries to live up to their rhetoric on Africa and back Liberia to rebuild its shattered health and education systems by wiping out $3.7 billion debt - equivalent to $1000 per Liberian - to secure the country's post-war future.

Susan Grant, Save the Children Country Director in Liberia, said: "Liberian children are on a humanitarian knife-edge now the country has emerged from conflict. This is a litmus test of whether rich country promises made in 2005 amount to anything more than hot air. After all the talk this is the time for action. Children can't wait."

Liberia has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, the majority from easy-to-treat or preventable diseases such as diarrhoea and malaria. One in five Liberian children dies before their fifth birthday.

Grant continued: "Liberia has suspended fees for medical treatment, but with no funding Liberia will be forced to re-introduce charges. This will leave millions unable to afford the most basic treatments such as a course of medication for diarrhoea or malaria - the country's biggest killers."

Without action at the donor conference, Liberia won't be allowed to have its debt cancelled until it clears all its overdue payments to the IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank and agrees to various conditions set by these institutions. Concerns are mounting that desperately-needed reconstruction aid will have to be used to pay off these debts. Even if no interest was charged and the country's entire budget went on debt repayments it would still take more than 28 years to pay off.

Liberia has been beset by financial struggles since the end of the war:

Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive of Save the Children UK, said: "Rich countries must scrap Liberia's debts unconditionally and deliver the aid they have promised so the country can start to rebuild its shattered health and education systems. Children - almost half Liberia's population - played no part in building up this debt, but they experience the consequences in their most brutal form."

Notes to editors

In 2005, the year following Liberia's last donor conference, also the G8's 'Year of Africa', aid to Africa, excluding Nigeria's debt write-off, actually decreased by 2.1 per cent.

The UK has a seat on both the Boards of the IMF and the World Bank.

Over the last six years, donor countries have actually disbursed only 79 per cent of the aid that they promised to Liberia. Such unpredictable aid means that the Liberian government is unable to plan and deliver essential services to well over one million children.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz amongst others are expected to attend the "Liberian Partners' Forum" conference on 13-14 February but only 15 minutes has been given to discussing Liberia's debt arrears.

For more information please contact:

Save the Children Press Office: +44 (0)207 012 6841

Email address: media@savethechildren.org.uk

 


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]


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Last updated:Tue Feb 13 10:01:31 2007