A project, Recovery of Economic Activity for Liberian Informal Sector Employment (REALISE), to be implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS) and the Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), has been launched by President George M. Weah and would impact thousands of Liberians who are poor or falling to poverty as a result of Covid-19 worst hit on Montserrado County and its environs during the heat of the pandemic.
“I am told that under Component One of the project, about 4,000 vulnerable Liberians in the informal sector will receive support to either start a new business or improve existing ones,” President Weah said with deep compassion, considering the effect the pandemic has had on his people since its outbreak on March 3, 2020. “I am further informed that REALISE projects will be small-scaled, quickly executable, labor-intensive, suited to low-skilled individuals, and will also be sustainable in terms of use, maintenance and environmental concerns.”
The REALISE Project is a Government of Liberia (GOL)-owned initiative, supported by the World Bank, and intended to increase income earning opportunities for the vulnerable in the informal sector in response to the Covid-19 crisis in Liberia. It will be achieved by providing temporary employment and small business support project beneficiaries.
The program, which will transform 170 communities, reminded President Weah of his past sponsorship of Youth Empowerment Liberia, which has left a positive mark on them.
“In 2015, as the then Senator of Montserrado County and Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Youth and Sports, I sponsored the ratification of the US$10 million Youth Opportunities Project (YOP), which provided training, livelihood and entrepreneurial support to thousands of Liberian youth,” the President said, recalling in detail the impact his human development has on the youthful population.
According to the President, the major focus of the development agenda of his administration is economic empowerment, which has been a central theme from day one of his inauguration, and remains committed to it.
“Since the beginning of my tenure some four years ago, my government embarked upon numerous important initiatives, which are intended to empower our people, while at the same time tackling other developmental challenges across the country,” President Weah said.
Poverty is a disease in human society. It belittles one before his or her family and makes people inferior in the family and society. It limits one from acting where he or she has voice. It incites an individual to go against his or her will and do things contrary to the norms of society. It destabilizes civilization, promotes lawlessness and conflict or war in a nation.
“Several studies have been done on how to maintain stability following years of conflict, such as that which Liberia has experienced. They all point to poverty reduction and people empowerment as essential elements for sustainable and durable peace,” President Weah said.
The project to benefit 19,000 vulnerable Liberians only in Montserrado County and its environs has been welcomed by the President, who thanked its sponsors but appealed to other international partners for its decentralization, which he noted would affect the fifteen counties and its citizens.
“We are very thankful to the French government, the World Bank and all those who have helped to make this possible. Let me now call on other development partners to contribute to the REALISE Project, so that the impact reaches across the country, and not just Monrovia,” President Weah said, calling for the full benefit of every vulnerable citizen nationwide, which the pandemic worst hits.
The needs of Liberians are many and cannot be resolved without their involvement; therefore, the President thanked designers of the program for getting the people’s involvement as he launched the program on Friday.
“The needs of our people are many, and these needs are best addressed through initiatives that involve the people themselves. The approach adopted by the REALISE Project, which calls for the direct involvement of ordinary people through small enterprises and community-based public works. It is only through your participation that the REALISE Project can become successful and sustainable, and achieve its intended purpose,” the Liberian leader said. “The launch of the REALISE Project should send a strong signal of my Administration’s determination to empower our citizens. We shall remain unrelenting in our resolve and determination to lift this country and its people from poverty.”
The duration of the US$10 million project is for three years, which began June 2021 and ends June 2024. It will address individuals or households in the informal sector who are poor or who risk falling into poverty due to the impact of covid-19 on their livelihoods. Beneficiaries will be selected from low-income communities in the Greater Monrovia area in Monsterrado County. Marginalized and people with disability are included. It targets 4,000 beneficiaries within 20 communities in greater Monrovia, who are vulnerable households, to revive or start small business.
In addition, it will sponsor temporary employment support and employability development for 15,000 vulnerable workers within 150 communities.
In furtherance, beneficiaries must be 18 years old and above, residents of greater Monrovia, both out of school and in-school in the formal sector, who express interest in the project. It should be households that are extremely poor, labor constrained, and whose livelihoods have been directly or adversely affected by covid-19 pandemic. There will be no age or education restriction on participants. Besides, women will constitute at least 50 percent of total project beneficiaries, but they must have citizen ID card, mobile money registration, among others.
