A German government-funded IOM project to create 200 waste
management jobs for former combatants in Liberia is to be doubled
in size to include 200 more beneficiaries from two poor
communities.

The ten-month project is designed to create livelihoods, reduce
pollution and improve environmental health and living conditions
for poor families in Montserrado and Margibi counties who have
lived through 14 years of conflict. 

It will help municipal authorities to create and manage
sustainable waste management systems and carry out community
clean-ups.

It will also launch health awareness campaigns led by the 200
former combatants and waste management committees set up during the
first phase of the project.

IOM is implementing the scheme in close cooperation with the
municipal authorities, the World Bank and the International Labour
Organization (ILO), which are also supporting livelihood and waste
management programmes in Liberia.

IOM will provide technical assistance to local authorities;
establish premises from which to implement waste collection
systems; recruit and train unemployed beneficiaries; and organize
information campaigns aimed at raising public awareness of
environment and health-related issues.

"We hope that the training and work experience provided by this
project will also create skills that will subsequently help
beneficiaries to generate income in other sectors, notably
small-scale commercial agriculture and other small businesses,"
says IOM Liberia Chief of Mission Ferdinand Paredes.

For more information please contact:

Ferdinand Paredes

IOM Monrovia

Tel: + 231 5 703 584 or +231 666 5950

E-mail: "mailto:fparades@iom.int">fparades@iom.int