This is a presentation about the Liberia Youth Initiative for Peace and Sustainable Development, a national non governmental organization based in Liberia. The organization is led and driven by youth. It aims to make Liberia better for all Liberians.

1. GA RDNERSVILLE, M ONT SERRA DO COU NT Y,
REPUB LIC OF LIB ERIA
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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. Liberia’s civil war graphic snapshots

6. 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;

7. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf inaugurated
President in January 2006

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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

11. Intervention I:
Livelihood and Empowerment, the main issues

12. 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

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

14. Intervention II: Education & Training:
The main issues

15. 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

16. Intervention II
Education & Training Activities

17. 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;

18. 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.

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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

22. 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