ABSTRACT
The first paragraph of Liberia’s 2006 National Human Development Report (NHDR) opens as follows:
The impact of the civil war and poor governance on Liberia’s capacity for human development has been devastating. Loss of life through violent conflict or extreme deprivation, forced human displacement, the destruction of infrastructure and government capacity, and the collapse of livelihoods have left a perilous legacy of human insecurity. Even though the crisis of war has ended and the first steps towards reconstruction have been successfully made, the challenges are enormous. Indicators of human development in Liberia – covering employment, income, health, education, gender equality and child welfare – are among the lowest in the world … 13
