The project targets 53,650 vulnerable households and informal workers in urban
areas for Montserrado and Margibi counties, and rural areas for other counties. The
REALISE Project has six components. Under Component one-Grant Support to
vulnerable Households to Revive or start Small Businesses-SSB, 4,450 individuals will
be provided support to revive or start small businesses in the informal sector in
Montserrado and Margibi Counties. Component Two (LIPW), targets 17,000
Individuals with temporary employment support in Montserrado and Margibi,
while Component three Will enhance capacity building and project implementation
and coordination. Component Four-Provisional zero-value Component is to allow for
rapid reallocation of loan proceeds from other project components during an
emergency. Component Five will recruit 16,200 individuals in Bomi, Bong, Gbarpolu,
Grand Gedeh, Grand Cape Mount, Lofa, Nimba and Sinoe Counties, to participate in
the community livelihood and agriculture support (CLAS) ), and Component six will
benefit 16,000 households under the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) Program in Grand
Bassa, Grand Kru, Rivercess and River Gee Counties.
The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to increase access to income-earning opportunities for the vulnerable in the informal sector in response to crises, expand income and livelihood support to poor and food-insecure households, and improve efficiency in managing social protection programs in Liberia.
In support of the Government’s plans to expand support to vulnerable populations (including vulnerable workers in the informal sector), the World Bank (WB) has allocated International Development Association (IDA) resources to support recovery for households and informal sector workers whose livelihoods have been negatively impacted by the spread of COVID-19 in Liberia. A major outcome of this is the development of a project aimed at expanding economic opportunities for these informal sector workers under the name Recovery of Economic Activity for Liberia Informal Sector Employment (REALISE) Project.