Monrovia, Libera: MonGROW Green 

In 2022, the City of Monrovia, Liberia, was selected as a grantee of the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees (GCF), the MMC’s instrument to channel international funding directly to cities to implement inclusive projects of their own design. 

With support from the GCF, the City of Monrovia planted 20,000 trees to strengthen its coastal resilience while also providing vocational training to more than 100 youth and business start-up funding to 50 women in the migrant community.

As a coastal city below sea level, Monrovia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, coastal erosion, and land subsidence. Monrovia is also the world’s wettest capital, placing the city at increased risk for extreme flooding from rainfall. These climate hazards have had devastating consequences for Monrovia’s residents, particularly migrants living in the city’s informal coastal communities. Over the last decade, flooding and erosion have displaced more than 5,000 Monrovians, destroyed hundreds of homes, and endangered the fishery industry. Coastal low-income communities such as West Point and New Kru Town bear the brunt of climate disasters and are disproportionately at risk for climate displacement.  

The MonGROW Green project strengthened Monrovia’s climate resilience and connected migrant women and youth to economic opportunities through vocational training and entrepreneurship programs. 

To mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change, Monrovia engaged 100 internally displaced youth to plant 20,000 mangrove and coconut trees in areas at high risk of flooding and coastal erosion. The youth also received technical and vocational training to develop life-skills and learn about employment opportunities.

Additionally, the project provided entrepreneurship training and business start-up funding to 50 women entrepreneurs from migrant communities. This includes, for example, a woman whose home was destroyed by flooding and who used this support to start a new business and rebuild her life. 

Through the GCF, Monrovia took strides to become a greener, more climate resilient, and more inclusive city for migrants and non-migrant communities alike. 

The MonGrow Green project helped cultivate a greener, more inclusive, and climate resilient Monrovia. 

Monrovia’s GCF project recruited young migrants and marginalized city residents rh as tree stewards to plant mangroves that covered more than seven kilometers of high-risk coastline, strengthening the city’s disaster preparedness and resilience. Over time, these 20,000 trees will grow into a bulwark against extreme flooding, land subsidence, and coastal erosion, preventing climate displacement, preserving fishing industries, and protecting essential infrastructure.  

Through its vocational training and tree planting program, the MonGROW Green project has also stimulated the local economy and socioeconomic inclusion for migrants. To date, the project has delivered climate-smart business management training and start-up grants to 150 individuals displaced by floods, including 100 youth and 50 women entrepreneurs. The training has been an economic boost for both groups: many women entrepreneurs reported increased profits and expanded their businesses after the training, and 100 percent of the youth clients graduated from the training with life and vocational skills to compete in the green labor market. 

Over the course of the project, the city engaged more than 10,000 residents on climate action through town hall meetings and community engagement initiatives. These efforts raised awareness of the importance of inclusive climate action while ensuring the project trees were protected and stewarded by communities themselves.   

Monrovia has pledged to continue the project and expand their service offerings for migrants and refugees, hoping to triple the impact of the project in its next iteration. The city is currently establishing a one-stop-shop migrant desk to institutionalize inclusion programming.