Liberia

Liberia, a country about the same size as Ireland , located on the West African coast has been racked by violence and destruction almost continuously for the past 17 years.

Liberia has a population of just over 3 million and 2.4 million of them live below the poverty line, 85% of the population is unemployed and average life expectancy is under 40 years.

In addition to the disturbing picture painted by these figures, there is a yet more disturbing feature of the recent conflicts – the high number of children who have been recruited and are being used as child soldiers. In the height of the war an estimated one in ten children were recruited for the war effort with numbers now estimated at 21,000 (UN).