Strengthening resilience in vulnerable slum communities of Liberia
The ILO to kick-start a new cooperation project aimed at strengthening capacities of local community groups of Liberia to effectively manage the delivery of water and sanitation services.
Monrovia (ILO News) - The International Labour Organization (ILO) and its partners are about to implement a new project supported through the UN Ebola Recovery Multi Partner Trust Fund and designed to strengthen resilience and promote economic stabilization and recovery in vulnerable slum communities of Liberia.
Titled “Upgrading Water and Sanitation Systems Incorporating Skills-Based Training and Employment for Youth in Ebola Affected Slum Communities”, the ILO project is expected to expand basic sanitation, improve environmental conditions and hygiene, and promote youth employment in the slum communities of Monrovia.
As a component of the UN’s overall support to the implementation of the post-Ebola recovery strategy in Liberia, the project will be providing expanded access to safe drinking water and environmental sanitation and will be creating employment and business opportunities for youth and women.
The project constitutes the first phase of a long term programme which intends to strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability to Ebola outbreaks and other public health disasters in the urban areas of Liberia.
The pilot phase of the project will be implemented in Clara Town, one of the four slum communities identified, and will only be extended to the other communities, namely, Logan Town, West Point and New Kru Town, subject to availability of funds.
The project is part of a UN Joint Programme to be implemented by ILO, UN Habitat and UNICEF in collaboration with the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, the Ministry of Gender and Social Development, the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) and the Liberia Water and Sewerage Corporation (LWSC).
The announcement by Mr Salif A. Massalay, ILO’s Project Manager in Liberia, came at the end of a consultative meeting with UNHABITAT, UNICEF and government partners. The meeting which aimed at mapping out strategies for the implementation of the project also had in attendance the representatives of the communities where the project will be implemented.
The project which is due to be formerly launched on March 1st and 2nd, 2016, has the overall objective of reducing vulnerability from infectious diseases in the most densely populated slum communities in Monrovia and to strengthen the resilience of slum communities by providing opportunities for livelihoods in those communities. Through this project, the ILO will seek to provide more and better jobs for inclusive growth and improved youth employment prospect by enhancing local economic development through labour-intensive infrastructure development.
Furthermore, the project is specifically designed to achieve the following objectives:
Titled “Upgrading Water and Sanitation Systems Incorporating Skills-Based Training and Employment for Youth in Ebola Affected Slum Communities”, the ILO project is expected to expand basic sanitation, improve environmental conditions and hygiene, and promote youth employment in the slum communities of Monrovia.
As a component of the UN’s overall support to the implementation of the post-Ebola recovery strategy in Liberia, the project will be providing expanded access to safe drinking water and environmental sanitation and will be creating employment and business opportunities for youth and women.
The project constitutes the first phase of a long term programme which intends to strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability to Ebola outbreaks and other public health disasters in the urban areas of Liberia.
The pilot phase of the project will be implemented in Clara Town, one of the four slum communities identified, and will only be extended to the other communities, namely, Logan Town, West Point and New Kru Town, subject to availability of funds.
The project is part of a UN Joint Programme to be implemented by ILO, UN Habitat and UNICEF in collaboration with the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, the Ministry of Gender and Social Development, the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) and the Liberia Water and Sewerage Corporation (LWSC).
The announcement by Mr Salif A. Massalay, ILO’s Project Manager in Liberia, came at the end of a consultative meeting with UNHABITAT, UNICEF and government partners. The meeting which aimed at mapping out strategies for the implementation of the project also had in attendance the representatives of the communities where the project will be implemented.
Strengthening resilience through livelihood opportunities
The project which is due to be formerly launched on March 1st and 2nd, 2016, has the overall objective of reducing vulnerability from infectious diseases in the most densely populated slum communities in Monrovia and to strengthen the resilience of slum communities by providing opportunities for livelihoods in those communities. Through this project, the ILO will seek to provide more and better jobs for inclusive growth and improved youth employment prospect by enhancing local economic development through labour-intensive infrastructure development.
Furthermore, the project is specifically designed to achieve the following objectives:
- Integrate youth in community processes to improve sanitation and solid waste management services in targeted slum area
- Improve living conditions and environmental sanitation in Clara Town by improving sanitation and solid waste management services;
- Provide skills training and employment opportunities for young people through the implementation of labour-intensive WASH infrastructure projects and youth engagement in the provision of operational and maintenance services for WASH facilities and solid waste management services in the selected communities.
- Strengthen the capacity of the LWSC and the MCC to address sanitation and solid waste management in the slums areas of Monrovia