A W.I.S.H. Liberia Tri-Annual Program Report 2006-2008 (March 2009)

1.00 Introduction

The Liberian affiliate of A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity – A.W.I.S.H/Liberia has been in existence for the past two years. The organization was incorporated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2006 and accredited by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs in the same year. This accreditation was renewed a year ago, further guaranteeing the existence of A.W.I. S.H/Liberia as a recognized NGO in the Country for the next three years.

Despite this recognition, A.W .I .S .H/Liberia has not been able to move beyond the first critical stages of organizational development to establishing itself effectively as an operational development oriented organization in the country.

This report covers the few activities the organization has been able to carry out and the corresponding results inspite of the numerous problems and constraints it has been confronted with as a new organization operating in a difficult post war milieu.

2.00 The Country Situation

The Country finally turned its back on internecine war in 2003, and after twoyears rule by a corruption –ridden transitional government, a democratically elected government was elected with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president. Since then, the country’s recuperation from the ravages of the war has been steady . This has been largely due to the immense good will of the international community and the determination of the Liberian people to work tirelessly for sustainable peace and rapid reconstruction.

On the security front, despite isolated cases of armed robbery in the capital and its environs, every nook and corner of the country is now devoid of serious factors of insecurity. The United Nations Peace keeping force and the newly trained Liberian Police and the army are present in every district. The revitalized judicial system is functioning, although some of its inadequacies have not been effectively addressed.

On the socio-economic front, over 75% of school going children and youth are now enrolled in schools, although the perennial problems of inadequate qualified teachers, insufficient instructional material and inadequate appropriate learning spaces have not been addressed. Over 90% of the hospitals and clinics have been rehabilitated and essential drugs and equipment are available but there is a veritable famine in health personnel, especially doctors. The economy is rapidly recovering as is indicated by the increase in government income, increase in salaries of civil servants, the billions of US dollars that are recently invested by Metal-Steel and other multinational companies and the number of functioning banks. The benefits of recovery are yet to trickle down on the common people in the villages, majority of who are finding it difficult to make do with less than one US dollar per family member per day.

Road reconstruction in the City and in the country has gained momentum this season. It is envisaged that before the end of the dry season, most major roads linking cities and major streets in Monrovia will be rehabilitated.

It is evident that the country has now taken the irreversible trend to sustainable peace and development.

3.00 Planned Activities

The following activities were planned to be carried out by AWISH / Liberia in the period under review:

  • Recruit volunteers and mobilize support
  • Restructure Board of Directors
  • Restructure management team
  • Incorporate the organization through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Accredit the organization at Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs
  • Seek accreditation from Sector/line government Ministries
  • Establish and equip an office
  • Conduct Board training
  • Conduct Volunteer training
  • Establish branches in three Counties
  • Select project communities
  • Conduct needs assessment
  • Recruit community volunteer facilitators
  • Enlist the services of program development consultant
  • Develop programs and projects for implementation
  • Submit proposals for funding to AWISH/USA and funding agencies in liberia
  • Implement projects
  • Engage potential partners
  • Submit reports to donors and AWISH

4.00 Activities Carried -out with Corresponding Results

Recruit Volunteers and Mobilize Support

Fifty volunteers have been recruited at board, management and community levels to design, manage and implement projects in the communities that have been identified for program intervention. Of this number, 18 are women, holding positions at Board, management and community levels.

At Board and management levels, five of the volunteers are technical persons in the fields of program development, accounting, law , engineering and sociology. It was difficult to recruit a volunteer in the area of program development because of the people with the requisite knowledge and skills are gainfully employed by NGOs. It is recently that we got a volunteer who is willing to devote 30% of his working hours as a free lance consultant to work for AWISH. The community level volunteers are facilitators.

Table 1: Sex Distribution of Volunteers at Various Levels

Level Female Volunteers Male Volunteers

Board

 3 4
Management 1 4
Community 15 23
Total 19 31

Work on operational guidelines and policy for volunteers is in progress and the program development volunteer is designing a training program for the Board and the community facilitators.

Meanwhile community awareness and mobilization meetings are in progress. The “Bringing AWISH to the People “meetings are designed to create awareness about our goals, programs and principles and mobilize community support for our work.

Restructure Board of Directors and Management Team

Initially, a five–man Board without female representation was set up. Technical advice on gender issues in organizational development and operation from the program development volunteer prompted the membership to reshuffle the membership of the Board to make way for the inclusion of women at the decision making level and to replace members who have been passive. Consequently, the membership of the Board was expanded from five to seven and the number of women from zero to three. This seven-man Board of Directors include the following persons:

Name Sex Position Address & Phone
Papa M Kamara M Chairperson 18th St Sinkor, Monrovia
+2316510092
Elizabeth M Wordley F Vice Chairperson 5th St Sinkor, Monrovia
+2316510092
Dorothy Y Kollie F Treasurer Old Road, Monrovia
+2316546405
Sylvester B Rogers M Secretary Duala, Bushrod Island, Monrovia
+2316532271
Clllr Esther Seton Cee F Member Gardnerville, Monrovia
+2316552189
Abdul Turay M Member Hotel Africa Rd, Virginia, Monrovia
+23177939299
Abrahim Kabba M Chaplain New Kru Town
+2316519094

Following the selection of the Board based on laid down criteria, a five–man management team was put in place, comprising the following positions and persons:

Name Sex Position Address & Phone
Sylvester B Rogers M Executive Director

Duala, Monrovia
Sylvester B Rogers M Executive Director Duala, Monrovia
+2316532271
Abu Bakarri Kargbo M Finance Officer Point Four, Duala, Monrovia
+2315622603
James Teplah M Program Officer Clara Town, Monrovia
+23177005769
Brima Kemoh M Program Development Larkpassie, Sinkor, Monrovia
+2316837052
Helen Pratt F Administrative Officer Chicken Soup Factory, Monrovia
+2317791795

Incorporate and Accredit the Organization

In keeping with Liberian law, Non governmental Organizations –local and international- wishing to operate in the country, must obtain articles of incorporation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and accreditations from the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs and from the Ministries of the sectors the NGO would like to operate in. With assistance from AWISH /USA, AWISH/Liberia completed its incorporation and accreditation processes and obtained the necessary documents in 2006.The accreditation was renewed in 2008 to last for three years. The accreditations from the line Ministries are yet to be obtained when AWISH /Liberia completes its strategic planning process to definitely determine the sectors it wants to operate in.

Select Program Communities

In consultation with authorities at the Ministries of Internal affairs and Planning and Economic Affairs, AWISH/Liberia has selected three political subdivisions to work in: Rural Montserrado, Gbapolu and Bomi Counties. This selection was based on the following considerations:

County Reasons Districts Communities
Rural Montserrado Experienced the most severe devastation during the last phases of the war 3 5
Gbarpolu The last batches of returnees are in this area 2 4
Bomi Many underserved remote communities 2 8
Total 6 17

A total 17 communities have been selected in 6 districts of three counties have identified for operations of AWISH/Liberia. Each community has a facilitator, working with a community development Committee to identify priority community needs around which projects will be developed.

The following are the operational areas of AWISH/ Liberia:

County Communities
Monteserrado Arthington
Clay Ashland
Todee
White Plains
Samuka Town
Gbarpolu Fassama
Bopolu
Zordee
Hennestown
Bomi Foday Town
Gbala Town
Gbarma
Clay Town
Swaray Town
Mecca Town
Vorkpoh Town
Sasstown

5.00 Challenges

From the foregoing account, it is evident that AWISH/Liberia is set to commence full operations if the following challenges are addressed:

Logistical Incapacity

AWISH/Liberia does not have the necessary office equipment-computers and accessories to work with. Office work is therefore usually carried to Cafes to be done. Additionally, in the absence of vehicles and bikes it is very difficult to carry out development work even if a network of volunteers is engaged. AWISH does not even have a bike . We therefore rely very heavily on the unreliable public transport system to do our work. This is to a large extent responsible for the slow pace at which we are moving.

Lack of a Track Record to serve as Reference Point

AWISH/Liberia is a new organization that has not been able to implement any donor funded project. This lack of a track record is acting as serious drag on our chances of getting contracts from donors and corporations.

Limited Staff Capacity

All the people working for AWISH/Liberia are volunteers who are paid no salaries. This explains why it took us along time to enlist the services of a volunteer with knowledge and skills in program development. Hence our inability for a long time to develop quality proposals that meet donor requirements. This has partly addressed through the recruitment of Mr.Kemoh who is using his knowledge, experience and skills to put on the right track. Nevertheless, program development is a fairly expensive affair, requiring financial and logistical input even when the technical know-how is available.

At the Board and community levels, the challenges are acute. Some of the Board members do not know their functions and therefore have a passive attitude towards voluntary work. The facilitators at community level are all volunteers who have been selected to do community mobilization without adequate training. some are therefore finding it difficult to work effectively.

6.00 Opportunities

In spite of the challenges outlined above, AWISH/Liberia has opportunities to make positives differences in the lives of the war-affected people of the Republic of Liberia. Key among these are the following:

  • Favorable political and policy environment for NGO operations in the Country
  • The general determination of the Liberian people to put the past behind them work relentlessly for peace and sustainable development
  • The immense goodwill of the international community
  • The enthusiasm and commitment of the volunteers to provide services without pay.
  • The support of AWISH /USA for the program in Liberia.

7.00 Recommendation--The Way Forward

Support the building of AWISH/Liberia’s capacity for effective service delivery through the following:

  • Community facilitators training
  • The provision of logistics and basic Office equipment
  • Program Development.
  • Donor Marketing
  • Staff training (Management Committee Members)