Presently,  Liberia fails to meet its water, sanitation, and hygiene service delivery targets. A handful of Liberians Only a minority of Liberians in rural or urban areas have access to safe water and sanitation facilities: three out of four people have no access to safe water, six out of seven are without access to adequate sanitation facilities such as toilets, and 19 out of 20 practice unsafe hygiene behavior such as not washing their hands with soap after using the toilets-increasing preventable waterborne and vector-borne diseases. Diarrhea remains a chronic problem in both towns and rural areas, accounting for 19 percent of Liberia‘s high child mortality rates, and cholera is endemic, with annual epidemics, especially in major urban centers. Lack of safe water for drinking and household use, poor sanitation, and poor hygiene practices cause about 18 percent of all deaths in Liberia (WHO, 2008). Rural residents perceive numerous benefits to toilet use and generally do not wish to use the bush, but financial and other barriers are standing in the way. With few flush toilets available, rural residents often rely on simple pits dug in the ground, with a structure for squatting and a roof and walls to protect privacy. Open defecation in bushes is preferred when latrines become full, dirty, and unhealthy.

The policy and institutional framework for managing and delivering water and sanitation is weak. Numerous government ministries and agencies play a significant role in water and sanitation services. These include three government ministries – the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the Ministry of Lands, Mines, and Energy - along with the Liberia Water and Sewerage Corporation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and municipal and local governments. Responsibility for policy formulation, service delivery in urban areas, and service delivery in rural areas lies with three different bodies (respectively, the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, the Liberia Water and Sewerage Corporation, and the Ministry of Public Works), and two ministries lead on sector coordination and donor sector coordination (Ministry of Public Works and Ministry of Lands, Mines, and Energy, respectively). Until December 2009, there was no water and sanitation policy. So, the extended policy formulation process, which lasted well over two years, has left the sector prone to uncoordinated interventions. An effect of this lack of coordination is that reporting activities are ill-defined. Few actors know when, how and to which agency they are to report-leading to inconsistencies and gaps in reporting sector progress. 

    Financing challenges 

The sector severely lacks finance from both the government and donors. Liberia‘s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) puts the costs for water and sanitation targets at US$143.5 million over three years – but at present, only one-third. The government‘s allocation to the water and sanitation sector is 0.2 percent of the total budget. The other government agencies do not have clear budget lines for their water and sanitation activities in the national budgets. For instance, the Community Services Bureau of the Ministry of Public Works, which should provide rural water and sanitation services, was operating on an annual budget of US$80,000. This allocation has increased to US$825,000 in the 2009-2010 budget. Total government and donor contributions only make up US$50 million over the three years of the PRS, which is 35per cent of the required water, sanitation, and hygiene budget.  

        Reference

Liberia: National Budget, Repositioning for National Renewal, Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development, for the Period July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008. The Republic of Liberia.