The hospital had been devastated during the war. Rebuilt, it is now being used as a secondary health centre for the entire Lofa province. Eventually, management of the hospital will be handed over to the health authorities in Liberia.

A civil war that lasted from 1989 to 2003 claimed the lives of 200,000 people and resulted in over one million internally displaced persons (IDPs). After hostilities ceased, the country’s entire infrastructure and economy had to be rebuilt. The capital has remained without drinking water and electricity since the early nineties and over 80% of the population live below the poverty threshold.

SDC humanitarian aid and reconstruction
With the return of Liberian refugees and IDPs, the main priority for Liberia was to rebuild its infrastructures and restore basic social services. Lacking the necessary resources, the Liberian state depends on support from the international community. Two examples: the state’s total budget for 2008 was only USD 200 million and there are no more than thirty Liberian doctors working in the entire country.

After providing emergency relief to Liberia in the early 1990s, the SDC is now turning its attention to rebuilding the country’s infrastructures. Its resolve has strengthened in light of the fact that many relief agencies have left Liberia and that sustainable development projects are still at a very early stage. This is the context in which the project to rebuild Tellewoyan Hospital Voinjama was launched. The aim is not only to rebuild a hospital, but also to ensure that it continues to operate in a sustainable manner.

Tellewoyan reconstruction and restoration project
Since 2006, the SDC has been working to rebuild the Tellewoyan hospital for the benefit of the population in the Province of Lofa, which was the hardest hit during the civil war. It is located in a region that becomes completely isolated from the rest of the country during the rainy season. Moreover, due to its proximity to Sierra Leone and Guinea, it has had to deal with major inflows of returning refugees.

A group of experts travelled to Liberia to establish objectives and identify reconstruction needs. The first objective was to rebuild, expand and restore the hospital so that it could accommodate a bed capacity of 100 to 150 beds. More than simply restoring the building facilities, the aim was to provide the region with good-quality hospital care.

Preparatory phase

Rebuilding phase

Re-equipping phase

Re-commissioning phase

This phase began in May 2008. This was the moment of truth that would determine whether the hospital would be able to meet the needs of the population. It also marked the transition from humanitarian aid to development cooperation. From that moment forward, the project could no longer be viewed as a rebuilding project, but rather as the first step towards including the hospital in Liberia’s public health plan.

In order to do this, the SDC and the Liberian government entrusted the commissioning of the hospital to the NGO International Medical Corps (IMC), which works closely with Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The NGO’s experience in the region enabled it to re-commission the hospital and coordinate its activities as a secondary health care centre with those carried out by the region’s primary health care centres.

Project impact

In the medium- or long-term, responsibility for managing the hospital’s medical, administrative and financial affairs is to be transferred to Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Services and should meet requirements set forth in a national or regional health care plan.