G A R D N E R S V I L L E , M O N T S E R R A D O C O U N T Y , R E P U B L I C O F L I B E R I A

Liberia Youth Initiative for Peace and Sustainable Development

Changing Liberia through Innovation

(+231) 886 248 947; 886 534 023; 886 338 392; youthinitiativeliberiapsud@gmail.com

OUR TEAM

Matthew Nyanplu Executive Director

Patience S. Baker Administrative Officer

A. Ambulah Mamey Board Chairman

Oliver D. Mendin Program Officer

Janneh V. Dukuly Finance Officer

Jack J. Garr Logistics Officer

WHO WE ARE

A Liberian youth led and youth driven national non governmental organization established in September 2008 and amended in January 2012;

Accredited by the Liberian Government to partner in developing the country; accreditation number: MOPEA/RL/NNGO/1092

A group of young Liberians who aim to make Liberia better for all Liberians

THE SITUATION IN LIBERIA

The country was established back in 1822; got its independence in 1847; ravaged by various geopolitical and ethnic tensions

Tensions culminated into civil war which lasted 14 years (December 1989-2003)

The war had devastating effects: enlistment of child soldiers, rape, ethnic cleansing, murders among others.

An estimated 300,000 lost their lives and thousands others fled the country.

Liberia’s civil war graphic snapshots

THE SITUATION IN LIBERIA cont’d

The war ended in 2003, with the intervention of the United Nations and the exit of then President, Charles Taylor, now convicted war criminal for offenses he committed in Sierra Leone, not in Liberia;

2006; Liberia inaugurates its first female president, the first and only female President, then, for Africa

The rebuilding processes then set off;

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf inaugurated President in January 2006

The Challenges to face; the war aftermath

Daunting challenges created by the war which the Liberian Government and its many partners are addressing include:

A generation of unskilled and unemployed youths;

A broken economy, a broken social service delivery system including health and education, and a collapsed infrastructure

Participation and inclusion in decision making; the right to make choice and to be heard;

In short participatory and inclusive system of governance: socio, political and economic

What is the Government doing?

Government has made some gains and continues to show commitment in addressing the challenges:

Government has increased the national budget from USD 80M in 2006 to USD 600M in 2013

Government has attracted foreign direct investment of USD

Peace and security has been relatively stable and the country just celebrated a decade of uninterrupted peace in 2013.

Rehabilitation & Reconstruction of major infrastructures ( schools, roads, hydro, hospital) is picking up.

What we are doing…

It is evident, at least for the short to medium term, that the government can not do it alone; hence we intervene in the following areas promoting sustainable socioeconomic development:

a.Livelihood and Empowerment

b. Education & Training

c. Democracy, Human Rights & Peace Building

d. Governance and Civic Engagement

Intervention I: Livelihood and Empowerment, the main issues

Livelihood and Empowerment: The main issues

Informal economic activities including street peddling, commercial motorcycling, transactional sex work, street begging, drug abuse are prevalent among Liberia’s generation of unskilled and unemployed youths

We intervene through the promotion of sustainable skill building and income generation; tailoring, soap making, beautification, cosmetology, agriculture, interior decoration are skills that are learnt easily by non literate and semi literate persons, the category of youths we support

We target: females who are teen parents; transactional sex workers, non literate youths, motorcyclists, car cleaners, car loaders, etc promoting self help cooperation among them

Livelihood and Empowerment Activities (transforming lives from grass to grace)

Intervention II: Education & Training: The main issues

Intervention II: Education & Training: The main issues

Liberia’s education system has been ravaged in three dimensions: lack of physical infrastructures, lack learning materials and facilities, lack of manpower and human resources and low incentives for education workers particularly teachers.

The result is the poor quality of education Liberian children receive.

We intervene through:

Provision of scholarship support for disadvantaged and poor children, learning materials and equipment (chairs, copy books & textbooks, uniforms, shoes, & food). Training for teachers in remote villages and communities are also among activities soon to get started

Provision of equipment and training for student journalists

Provision of Career Guidance and Counseling for students

Intervention II Education & Training Activities

Intervention III & V:

Democratic Governance & Peace Building

The biggest challenge to Liberia peace consolidation is deeply rooted in the way it governs its citizens and how it distributes the wealth among the people, equitable distribution of wealth; giving the people a voice in the governance of the country is a key focus for LYIPSUD; we aim to ensure that Liberia’s governance is inclusive, participatory and accountable to the citizens

Starting 2014 we are promoting two main activities in this direction:

Civic education and Governance Awareness through the Liberia Youth Network for Democracy, LYND… a national volunteer youth movement that campaigns for democracy and good governance throughout Liberia, we educate the local people on civic duties and responsibilities, and the governance process

Enhancing Citizens Participation in Governance; we establish community development committees and district development councils as strong intermediate civic structures that represent the voice of the people at all levels of the decision making processes; we develop their capacities to become acknowledged counterparts of Liberia’s policy and decision makers;

Our Strategy

We aim to strengthen communities as the strongest force for peace building and social cohesion; we focus on the individual and collective capacities of the people we work with ; our beneficiaries represent the “least” privileged persons in the communities; those who are normally excluded from any kind of development intervention either at community or national level

We believe that efforts to consolidate the peace and promote social cohesion in Liberia should be focused mainly on the hard to reach component of the population; this is because they are the group who are most likely to turn their disillusionment and isolation into violence that may hamper the peace and stability of the society

Inclusion and participation should be at the core of our drive for a peaceful and prosperous world

We promote partnership between and among individuals, groups, and institutions at all levels: local, national, regional and global; we believe that efforts aimed at making society peaceful and cohesive requires cooperation

Peace in itself is not the absence of violence and war; it is creating the space and opportunity for everyone to realize the full extent of their happiness.

How are LYIPSUD’s Interventions funded

Fundraising, to date, remains the biggest challenge we face;

Nevertheless, we have managed to fund our activities wholly and/or partially through various modes:

Voluntary contribution by board members; this has been our main source of funding

Competitive Grant Programs; LYIPSUD participates in periodic grant competitions either, locally, regionally or globally; we have not been able, to date, to fund raise from this source as donors/grant makers have their own agenda, or their priorities may mismatch issues which are pressing to us

Governmental subsidy; in 2013 the Ministry of Youth and Sports, funded partially our Youth Career Guidance Program

Diasporas Outreach Campaign, as started in 2014, we intend to expand our fund raising efforts to the international goodwill community, as we are doing now, to fundraise for our programs

What we seek?

Cooperation and partnership in all dimensions;

Support: financial and technical, to help make Liberia a better, and a peaceful country

A Liberia that is stable and peaceful in which all of its citizens feel a stake in the national processes; each has the opportunity to make their voice heard; a Liberia that works for all Liberians.

SUPPORT US:

Support LYIPSUD; Support Liberia; Help make Liberia better; Support our common humanity We thank you very much for your attention.

www.facebook.com/LYIPSUD

DONATIONS CAN BE MADE DIRECTLY:

IN-CASH DONATIONS

Bank Name: AccessBank (Liberia) Limited

Bank Address: Johnson Street, Monrovia, Liberia

Account Number: 01242004192-44

Swift code: ACLILRLM; BKTRUS33

IN-KIND DONATIONS:

Bardnersville Road (Adjacent St. Peter’s High School), Gardnersville, Montserrado County

Republic of Liberia; P.O. Box 2022