Today Liberia reflects on a fourteen year long civil war in which 250,000 lives were lost out of its small population of 3.8 million, its infrastructure destroyed, 83.7% of its population living below the recognised poverty threshold and 111 out of every 1000 children dying before their fifth birthday. Life expectancy overall is just 45 years and employment is just 15% of the population.

Many children in Liberia who were used as child soldiers ended up on the streets after the war ended with no families or homes to return to, and during one recent exercise to assess the extent of street children, one child as young as four was found.

You can help when you sponsor a child in Liberia:

www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk
www.actionaid.org.uk
www.plan-uk.org

There are also some other charities who work with children in Liberia: