Monrovia, Liberia- UNDP in partnership with the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) and in collaboration with the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Program, will on 13, August 2022, launch a Cash for Work clean-up exercise covering 10 communities in Monrovia and its surroundings.
A UNDP press release said on Wednesday, August 10, 2022 that this is to help tackle the issue of poor waste management, while providing short-term income to support livelihood for disadvantaged communities with emphasis on youth.
The exercise is part of UNDP and the Government of Liberia Livelihood & Employment Creation Project that promotes access to income for vulnerable population including youth, women, and persons with disabilities.
The project working closely with community leaderships and the MCC Community Service and Solid Waste Management Departments, has enrolled four hundred community volunteers from the targeted 10 communities that are currently challenged due to limited coverage by existing waste collection schemes. The beneficiaries were selected following a transparent and participatory raffle process that ensured gender balance.
The community volunteers between the ages of 18-35 years were selected from Jallah Town, Slipway, Vai Town, Plumkor, West Point, PHP, Saye Town, Capitol Hill, Buzzy Quarter, God Bless You Community, Bras and People’s United Community.
Over the next twenty days, the volunteers will participate in the collection of waste, cleaning of the beaches and riverbank areas to support improving waste management and sanitation in their communities. They will receive a daily stipend of US5.00 dollars, amounting to US100.00 over the 20-day period.
To ensure sustainability of the intervention, UNDP is providing a consignment of tools for each of the communities. The communities will be linked with private waste entrepreneurs who will be purchasing plastics waste for recycling purposes. Communities will also be linked with community-based enterprises to support house-to-house waste collection while the leadership of the communities have committed to have the volunteers retained in the form of community volunteer corps to lead the charge on waste management in their communities.
The current situation of waste in Monrovia remains an environmental and health concern for members of households that may suffer waste borne diseases due to poor waste management. There is evidence that shows a linear correlation between waste management challenges and people’s livelihood.
“The response will help to improve access to income and livelihoods for the population, uplift the socio-economic status of communities through cash transfers and promote volunteerism,” said E. Abraham Tumbey Jr. UNDP Focal Person for the Livelihood & Employment Creation Program.
In addition to cash incomes, the communities will own and manage tools procured by the project to use for routine clean-up campaigns.
The UNV programme is supporting community mobilization and coordination, strategic oversight and supervision for monitoring and evaluation, while the MCC will work with community supervisors to support planning, daily monitoring and supervision of the work and to increase a sense of ownership and volunteerism for managing waste collection and sanitation in the ten communities.