An Integrated Approach to Targeted, Evidence-Based Livelihood and Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs for Vulnerable Young People in Fragile States: The Case of Liberia

Abstract

Liberia has one of Africa’s smallest, poorest, and most rapidly growing populations. The 2008 census showed a population growing at a rate of 2.6 % per annum and numbering 3.48 million people (LISGIS 2009), 84 % of whom lived on less than $1.25 per day (World Bank 2010). Young people between the ages of 10 and 24 make up one-third of the total population (LISGIS 2009). They not only face the same issues of identity, relationships and transition to adulthood common to young people everywhere, but today Liberian youth also confront tremendous adversity as a result of the country’s 14-year civil conflict (1989–2003) that wreaked havoc on the economy and infrastructure (Ellis 2006). Youth in Liberia have a huge influence on which path the country takes due to their large numbers and the role they play in society as future leaders. Liberia’s ongoing security and development challenges cannot be addressed without current stabilization policies being better synchronized with developing productive sectors that could be used to secure sustainable livelihoods (Solà-Martín 2011). For the country’s development and growth, therefore, it is vital both to protect young people’s health and social well-being, as well as to implement interventions that channel them into meaningful and productive employment.