Visualizing Rights in Liberia __________________________________ Kelly Gannon Elizabeth Glatfelter Practicum in International Affairs Graduate Program in International Affairs The New School University Center for Economic and Social Rights Advisor: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr May 11, 2011 Visualizing Rights in Liberia Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Right to Education Outcomes 7 Policy Efforts 12 3. Right to Health Outcomes 15 Policy Efforts 20 4. Right to Food Outcomes 24 Policy Efforts 27 5. Right to Water Outcomes 30 Policy Efforts 34 6. Right to Work Outcomes 36 Policy Efforts 40 7. Resources National Budget 42 Donor Aid 44 8. Assessment 49 References 52 Appendix A: Organization of the Poverty Reduction Strategy 55 Appendix B: Public health expenditure in West Africa 56 Appendix C: National Budget of Liberia, Ministry of Finance 57 Appendix D: Total aid to Liberia, all sectors 61 Appendix E: Total aid to Liberia, by sectors 63 Visualizing Rights in Liberia Figures Figure 2.1: Less than sixty percent of Liberian students do not complete primary school 8 Figure 2.2: Poor quality of education is exemplified by lack of trained teachers 8 Figure 2.3: Regional inequality in the enjoyment of the right to primary and secondary 10 education Figure 2.4: Inequality in literacy by region and gender 10 Figure 2.5: Progress in the enjoyment of the right to education 11 Figure 3.1: High under-five mortality rates in Liberia and among neighboring countries 16 Figure 3.2: Lack of enjoyment of the right to health across West Africa 17 Figure 3.3: Rural and urban inequality and the right to health 17 Figure 3.4: Progressive realization with the right health 19 Figure 4.1: High malnutrition prevalence shows failure to realize the right to health 25 Figure 4.2: Urban and rural inequalities and the right to food 25 Figure 5.1: Insufficient access to water in West Africa 30 Figure 5.2: Insufficient access to sanitation facilities in West Africa 31 Figure 5.3: Unequal access to water and sanitation between urban and rural regions in 32 Liberia Figure 6.1: Insufficient availability of work in West Africa 37 Figure 6.2: Severe poverty illustrates a failure of the realization of the right to work in 37 Liberia Figure 6.3: Economic growth is insufficient to guarantee the right to work 39 Figure 7.1: Liberia ranks lowest in allocation toward education 42 Figure 7.2: Allocation of donor funds by sector, percent of total donor aid, 2005 and 2009 45 Figure 7.3: Allocation of donor funds for social infrastructure & services, 2009 46 Figure 7.4: Donor expenditure exceeds Liberian government expenditure 46 Tables Table 2.1: School census by county, 2006 9 Table 3.1: Lack of health services in Liberian counties 18 Table 4.1: Distance to market indicates inadequate food accessibility 26 Table 5.1: Poor service coverage and the right to water 32 Table 6.1: Women in Liberia are subject to highly vulnerable working conditions 38 Table 7.1: PRS alignment of public expenditure for fiscal years 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 43 Table 7.2: Total donor aid disbursement to all sectors in Liberia in US$ millions 45 Table 7.3: Top donors to all sectors in Liberia, in USD millions (and % of total donor aid) 47 Visualizing Rights in Liberia 1 1. INTRODUCTION This report examines the realization of economic and social rights in Liberia. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all people have a right to a life of dignity and a life worthy of a human being. Situations of poverty deny the individual a life of dignity. It aims to graphically illustrate the most recent statistical data available to help assess Liberia’s compliance with the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and other international standards Liberia has adopted. This report focuses on five rights that are fundamental in achieving an adequate standard of living: health, education, food, water and sanitation, and work. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 2 1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures. 2. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 3. Developing countries, with due regard to human rights and their national economy, may determine to what extent they would guarantee the economic rights recognized in the present Covenant to non-nationals. The report analyzes quantitative data on socioeconomic outcomes to assess rights enjoyments and key policy documents to analyze conduct of the state as the duty bearer. In addition it examines the conduct of the international community through donor aid. General Comment 3 of the ICESCR outlines the international, legally binding obligations of the state as the primary duty bearer responsible for upholding economic and social rights.1 However, according to international law, “international cooperation for development and thus for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights is an obligation of all States. It is particularly incumbent upon those States with are in a position to assist others in this regard.”2 Therefore, since the actions of these external actors affect the achievement of the full realization of rights, they should also be held accountable. Key Findings Dismal level of enjoyment of human rights. • Only forty-percent of teachers are trained.3 • There is one doctor of every 71,000 person.4 • One in five children under five years are malnourished. 5 • Seventeen percent of Liberians have access to improved sanitation facilities and sixty-eight percent have access to improved water sources.6 • Among Liberians who are employed, eighty-six percent are living below US $1 (PPP) per day.7 1 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), 1990. General Comment 3. 2 CESCR, 1990, General Comment 3, paragraph 14. 3 World Bank, 2011. 4 PRS, 2008. 5 World Bank, 2011. 6 World Bank, 2011. 7 MDGs, 2010. Visualizing Rights in Liberia 2 Aggregate Progress. Progressive realization is a human rights principle that assesses the movement toward improving the level of attainment for economic and social rights. In spite of poor results, government conduct shows significant efforts to prioritize human rights in Liberia.8 The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), Liberia’s key policy document, includes objectives to improve availability, accessibility, acceptability, adaptability, and quality. For example, the government prioritizes increasing the numbers and training of healthcare workers, rehabilitating health infrastructure, and supporting information technological systems. Neglect of gender and regional disparities. Despite aggregate progress, across Liberia the state and donors have systematically ignored particular inequalities. Efforts to realize human rights have failed to adequately address achievements in gender gaps. Unacceptably, 75 percent of rural women are illiterate9 and 990 women die in childbirth out of every 100,000 live births.10 Additionally, disparities between regions marginalize the rural interior while resource allocation is focused on the urban coast. Twenty-five percent of Liberians living in urban areas have access to sanitation facilities and a deplorable 4 percent of Liberians living in rural areas have access.11 Non-discrimination is an immediate and cross- cutting obligation of the state. Overlooking geographical and gender disparities perpetuate inequality in an already divided country. Significant donor resources, lack of accountability. The ICESCR, General Comments,12 and Universal Declaration of Human Rights13 obligate all states to resource poor nations through international cooperation. In Liberia total donor expenditure dwarfs that of the government, influencing social and economic rights achievements. International organizations and foreign country involvement prove their roles as duty bearers, as well. Just as the government is responsible to the Liberian people, so too are the external actors. In order to hold donors accountable, transparency of their policy efforts and resource allocation are necessary information for evaluation. Information deficit, lack of transparency. In order to hold actors accountable to the Liberian people, complete transparency is required. However, transparency requires that information be readily available. In Liberia, there is an information deficit with regard to disaggregated data. Both the state and donors are responsible for collecting and disseminating accurate information. Not only does this inform comprehensive policies, but it also provides a mechanism to evaluate conduct. Human rights principles The accountability at the national as well as international level is assessed based not only on results but also on conduct14 through the obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill by the duty bearer. The obligation to respect human rights means that the state must not interfere with the enjoyment of the right; the obligation to protect means that the state is required to interfere against deprivation of a right 8 See SERF Index, 2011. 9 DHS, 2007. 10 World Bank, 2011. 11 World Bank, 2011. 12 See in particular, General Comment 3 on the Nature of States’ parties obligations and General Comment 2 on International technical assistance measures. 13 See article 22 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948: “Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.” 14 See Fukuda-Parr, 2006.