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We are driven by:
Sustainable Community-Led Development.
Civic Village International believes in breaking the cycle of dependency, social inequalities, and poverty by investing in communities, and empowering them to become self-reliant and prosperous. We work with and collaborate with communities directly to provide the necessary tools to thrive through training and skills transfer to community members to turn them into individuals who have the solutions to the problems facing their communities. We believe each community is unique, and therefore tailor our poverty reduction programs to the specific social realities through a bottom-up approach where community members are the main drivers of change. This is backed by our central pillars of earth-building training, community farming and sustainable agriculture, skills and entrepreneurship development, education, and resource management and conservation.
Sustainable Planning, Building & Development
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Currently, 49 percent of the Liberian population lives in rural areas where poverty is heavily concentrated. The population faces poor housing conditions, hospitals, and maternity clinics.
Our mission is to bring carbon-neutral and sustainable building practices and sustainable planning that are based on socially inclusive consultation and consensus to build long-term housing, community and recreation centers, schools, and community clinics using local materials to build communities that respond to the social and environmental needs of the locals to improve the living standards of residence.
Community Farming & Agriculture Development
Although agriculture accounts for 60 percent of Liberia's population's means of livelihood, most agriculture is done by smallholder farmers who suffer from low agricultural production causing farmers to live below the poverty line.
Civic Village's goal is to develop a comprehensive agriculture development policy and introduce new farming methods and tools to increase agriculture production in staples such as rice in which 80 percent of consumption is reliant on import. By developing a strong local farming system, farmers and their families will see an increase in income and living standards. It will also protect the country from global food shortage and price volatility by reducing dependence on food imports.
Accessible Education in Earth-Built Classrooms
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One of the significant challenges facing post-war Liberia is that children in the country have the highest rates of out-of-school children in the world at 64 percent. This worrying reality is hit hardest by children living in rural areas. Such places continue to experience rural educational crises due to the absence of schools or deteriorating structures, and teachers refusing to relocate to rural communities due to lack of accommodation and poor roads.
We will empower children through education by building modern sustainably built classrooms and teacher's housing. We believe in investing in the future of Liberia by educating the young and that every child must have access to a good education.
Improving Access to Clean Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Despite being one of the world's rainiest countries, Liberia lacks the necessary infrastructures to provide everyone with clean drinking water. Over 1 million Liberians are without drinking water presently, leaving the population. 18 percent of death in the country is caused by diarrhea, malaria, cholera, and other waterborne diseases. Out of all fatal incidences, up to 90 percent are children under the age of five.
Our organization aims to prevent future outbreaks of waterborne diseases that vulnerable communities are exposed to due to a lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation. By improving access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene communities will have greater health outcomes.
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Accessible Education in Earth-Built Classrooms
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About 35 percent of men and 45 percent of women in Liberia are unable to find jobs due to a lack of formal labor sector in the country and lack of skills and training. This issue is disproportionately felt by youth and women who are overrepresented in the informal labour market, especially those that live in rural communities.
We aim to reduce high rates of unemployment and rural poverty by creating a non-farmed-based business sector, value-added social enterprises that will employ local community members, and developing social programs that prepare youths who represent 30 percent of the rural population, for active and long-term employment.
Skills Trade Development and non-farm Business
About 35 percent of men and 45 percent of women in Liberia are unable to find jobs due to a lack of formal labor sector in the country and lack of skills and training. This issue is disproportionately felt by youth and women who are overrepresented in the informal labour market, especially those that live in rural communities.
We aim to reduce high rates of unemployment and rural poverty by creating a non-farmed-based business sector, value-added social enterprises that will employ local community members, and developing social programs that prepare youths who represent 30 percent of the rural population, for active and long-term employment.
Reforestation and Conservation Training
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While Liberia is blessed with an abundance of lush land, this is currently being threatened by accelerating deforestation. From 2001 to 2020 the country lost 284 hectares of rain forest which makes up of 14 percent of total tree loss due to logging that had occurred in the 1990s and burning trees to make charcoal by the locals for energy.
Such deforestation threatens the ecosystem and wildlife such as Liberia's rainforest Elephants and Chimps who are dependent on forests as their homes and food source. Our tree planting and grass planting workshop will teach local communities how to restore trees and the importance of protecting biodiversity by planting trees.