Building Resilient Communities: CHAL and Bread for the World Strengthen Faith-Based Health in Liberia
In May 2021, CHAL entered into a landmark agreement with Bread for the World (Brot für die Welt) to implement a multi-year programme titled “Building Resilient Health Care and Safe Communities in Liberia through Faith-Based Organizations.” Spanning five counties — Bong, Nimba, Montserrado, Grand Bassa, and River Cess — the initiative has directly strengthened 20 faith-based health facilities, placing trained health workers, improved infrastructure, and engaged communities at the centre of better maternal and child health outcomes across rural Liberia.
The results speak clearly. Over the programme period, 90 health workers were equipped to handle obstetric emergencies, provide family planning counselling, and treat malaria in pregnancy. More than 2,000 community outreach visits were conducted, dramatically improving access to immunisation services and family health education. The programme also trained 150 health workers in infection prevention and control, 220 in customer care, and supported 75 traditional midwives and 200 community health facilitators — building a chain of care that reaches well beyond the facility walls into homes and villages across five counties.
The impact is measurable: a 14.7% increase in institutional deliveries, a 17% rise in ANC visits, a 59% surge in family planning counselling for adolescent girls, and a 5% decrease in malaria cases during pregnancy. Infrastructure improvements — including three incinerators, one placenta pit, and two solar lighting installations — have made facilities safer and more functional. Over 477,000 individuals are now actively engaged with healthcare services delivered by CHAL’s faith-based network, affirming what CHAL has always believed: that strengthening the facilities closest to the people is the surest path to lasting health for all Liberians.
