I am just back from a two-day visit to flood-affected communities in Montserrado and Grand Cape Mount Counties together with the Liberia National Red Cross. The visit has given me firsthand insight into the humanitarian challenges faced by communities following the devastating floods. This year’s flooding has impacted over 100,000 people across 75 communities in Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, and Bong Counties, particularly affecting the most vulnerable. The visit was a great opportunity to engage in open discussions with community members to better understand their needs and ensure that the support we provided was both meaningful and effective. EU programmes are the result of European citizen’s solidarity to support the people of Liberia and we are accountable to make sure funds reach those in need.

The Liberian Red Cross, in collaboration with its international partner, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has mobilized a total of $537,835 USD under the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund for this year’s floods in Liberia. The Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) was set up by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). It supports national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The EU provides an annual allocation to the DREF. We work with the National Red Cross as their volunteers are consistently on the front line of emergencies, from natural disasters to civil wars. Amazingly, the RC is the largest humanitarian network as almost every country has a Red Cross National Society.

This year, in response to the floods in Liberia, the European Union has generously contributed over $141,000 USD to this emergency fund which has allowed the RC to use the funds to provide cash assistance to 1,500 families, comprising 13,100 affected individuals, across 30 communities in the three hardest-hit counties. The assistance provided is unconditional cash aimed to help families meet their immediate needs and recover from the devastating impact of the floods. By providing people with cash, they can make choices based on their own priorities, needs and preferences, and have greater agency and control over their own lives. This can promote a greater sense of dignity and choice than other forms of aid and most importantly reactivates the local economy as in most cases is used to buy food. Of course, beyond emergency support, communities need to work collectively on keeping drainages free from debris and waste whereas city authorities should prevent illegal constructions in flood-prone areas.

This has been possible thanks to the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (ECHO) which was created in 1992 as an expression of the European solidarity with people in need across the world. In 2010, civil protection was integrated for a better coordination and disaster response inside and outside Europe. Europe is committed to delivering aid to populations affected by natural or man-made disasters solely on the basis of needs and guided by the humanitarian principles grounded in international humanitarian law (humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence). To be noted that this is not the first time the EU’s humanitarian arm has assisted the Liberian people.

Back in 1989 when war broke out in Liberia on Christmas Eve, it signaled the start of a thirteen-year-long ordeal for Liberians and the beginning of the European Commission’s sustained involvement in the country. Funding the few, mostly medical organisations that provided relief operations during and after the ‘first Liberian war’, the EU supported life-saving activities during some of the country’s darkest hours, from 1989 to 1997.

EU  support returned after an unprecedented Ebola outbreak hit the country, from the onset allocating considerable funds and deploying health experts to support the handful of medical partners with expertise in controlling such an outbreak. In March 2015, the European Union organised a high-level conference on the Ebola epidemic. The purpose was two-fold: first, to take stock of the ongoing emergency response and adapt it to the evolving situation on the ground, leading to eradication of the disease; second, to plan for the long term and support the recovery and resilience of the affected countries, including the development of their health systems. The event was co-chaired by the EU, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the United Nations, the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).  As a result, the EU and its MS managed to mobilise €1.8 billion. Humanitarian funding came first and contributed to epidemic surveillance, diagnostics, treatment and medical supplies; deployment of doctors and nurses and training of health workers; raising awareness among the population and the promotion of safe burials. It is about saving life. The European Commission also deployed health professionals from the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and control and funded five projects that look to develop potential vaccines and medication against Ebola. Development funding kicked off quickly, through strengthening health systems programmes and research with European pharmacies on the development of vaccines and rapid diagnostics test. The Ebola outbreak demonstrated the importance of research and innovation in health crises what was confirmed years later with the COVID 19 crisis. Liberia received vaccines and  support to vaccination campaigns through the COVAX Facility, the global initiative that secured fair and equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for every country in the world. The EU and its Member States were the main contributors to COVAX with over USD 2.6 billion.

Today, Liberia is at peace, has developed a long-term vision for poverty reduction and is moving into sustainable development. However, as reported in the Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) WB report climate change poses an existential threat to peace and prosperity in Liberia and is here to stay. Floods are just one of the many climate change results and some of its effects are now unavoidable. According to the UN more than 2.3 million people in West and Central Africa have been affected by floods so far in 2024, all living in extremely vulnerable conditions.

And the challenge is global. The climate crisis is putting lives and livelihoods at risk – especially for the most vulnerable and less prepared countries. Without preventive actions that include people’s  education, helping them to understand and address the impacts and empowering them with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes needed to act as agents of change, people will continue to be at risk. Many factors leave Liberia particularly vulnerable to climate change. Its economy is highly dependent on its natural wealth, its fiscal space is limited, its infrastructure and services are inadequate, and its human development outcomes are among the lowest in the world. This is crucial: in order to avert a repeat of the ongoing catastrophe, we need to invest – fast – in adaptation. The WB report points that climate change could shrink Liberia’s economy by 15% and push 1.3 million people more into poverty by 2050 if we don’t act. The floods this year have been a call to action.