The Mid-Yr Programme Evaluate and Planning assembly on sexual and Reproductive Well being and Rights (SRHR) in Liberia reveals that out of 585,000 adolescents recommended on household planning, solely 10 % embraced using contraceptives right here.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, Liberia; August 1, 2025 – The United Nations Inhabitants Fund (UNFPA) and the Authorities of Liberia and Worldwide companions 2025 Mid-Yr Programme Evaluate and Planning assembly on sexual and Reproductive Well being and Rights (SRHR) in Liberia, has proven that 585,000 purchasers acquired household planning counseling, with solely a small fraction lower than 10% of adolescents recommended selected to provoke contraceptive use.
On Thursday, July 31, 2025, the Authorities of Liberia, via the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Well being, LISGIS, together with civil society, and the worldwide neighborhood, gathered to evaluate implementation progress, have fun achievements, and establish challenges encountered throughout the first half of the yr on the implementation of the SRHR Venture.
The session additionally served to realign efforts and strengthen partnerships for the rest of this system yr. Nevertheless, the first aims of the evaluation had been to judge progress made below the fifth Nation Programme Doc (CPD), highlight key achievements and success tales, doc classes discovered and advocate corrective actions to make sure full realization of deliberate outcomes earlier than the top of 2025.
The 2025 Mid-Yr Programme Evaluate and Planning assembly concluded with renewed requires evidence-driven, equitable, and pressing actions to strengthen Liberia’s sexual and reproductive well being techniques.
Remarking throughout this system, Sanford Wesseh, UNFPA Programme Specialist for Information and Proof, shared sobering statistics on household planning, antenatal care, and institutional supply throughout Liberia.
The figures, drawn from January to June 2025, revealed each progress and important areas of concern, particularly amongst adolescents and rural communities.
“From Q1 to Q2 of 2025, over 585,000 purchasers acquired household planning counseling. Nevertheless, solely a small fraction, lower than 10% of adolescents who had been recommended selected to provoke contraceptive use. It is a crimson flag. If counseling occurs, however uptake is so low, we have to reassess our messaging. Are we specializing in unwanted side effects as a substitute of advantages? Are adolescents being given actual decisions?” Mr. Wesseh requested.
He named Bomi, Nimba, and Bong, among the most populous counties in Liberia, with initiation charges amongst adolescents of lower than 5%. On the similar time, Maryland, Sinoe, and Grand Kru had the very best, primarily as a result of focused UNFPA interventions.
“Whereas 73% of pregnant ladies attended not less than one antenatal care (ANC) go to between January and July, solely about 40% accomplished the advisable 4 visits, with dropout charges exceeding 50% in counties like Montserrado. In locations like River Gee and Grand Gedeh, over 30% of ladies, who began ANC, by no means returned,” Wesseh reported. “We should examine the causes, whether or not they be the angle of healthcare employees, poor service high quality, or accessibility obstacles,” he urged.
He indicated that Sinoe and Rivercess had the bottom dropout charges, pointing to pockets of fine apply that might be replicated elsewhere. On the similar time, from January to June, 68,184 institutional deliveries had been reported, with protection enhancing in a number of counties.
Nevertheless, Montserrado lagged with solely 33% of births occurring in well being services.
Disturbingly, in some counties, as much as 19% of facility-based deliveries had been dealt with by unskilled personnel, on account of expert employees delegating to aides. “This undermines the very goal of institutional supply,” Wesseh warned.
Liberia additionally recorded a 76% enhance in cesarean sections from Q1 to Q2, totaling almost 8,000 procedures within the first half of 2025.
Montserrado led the counties, although fairness in entry throughout counties stays a difficulty.
The Minister of Price range and Planning, Wellington Barchue, praised UNFPA and companions for his or her enduring help via a number of crises in Liberia’s historical past, together with battle and pandemics.
“This mid-year evaluation couldn’t have come at a extra vital time,” he mentioned. “We’ve got simply launched our new nationwide growth technique—the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Growth. We urge all growth actors to make sure that their ultimate yr inputs into the Nation Programme mirror the priorities of this new plan.”
Barchue additionally supplied insights into the continued nationwide price range planning course of, together with Liberia’s efforts to transition to program-based budgeting.
The Officer-in-Cost at UNFPA Liberia, Leonard Kamugisha, outlined important achievements throughout the first half of 2025, together with the finalization of Liberia’s sixth Nation Programme Doc and its upcoming consideration by the UNFPA Government Board in August.
“Regardless of world funding cuts, notably from the U.S. authorities, we stay inspired by the steadfast help from companions like Sweden and Eire,” Kamugisha mentioned. “We additionally acknowledge new partnerships with the Embassy of Japan and ongoing collaborations below the EU-funded Highlight Initiative.”
He spotlighted progress made on nationwide pointers for household planning, collaborative work with the First Girl’s workplace to champion maternal well being, and preparations for launching Liberia’s third-generation Nationwide Inhabitants Coverage.
Anticipated outputs from the 2025 Mid-Yr Evaluate embody a complete implementation progress report, documentation of success tales, recognized finest practices, and a roadmap for the remaining months of the yr. Modifying by Jonathan Browne
