The United Nations and the Liberian Government today appealed for $36.7 million to meet the pressing humanitarian needs of more than half a million people who are at risk for hunger and illness, including some 117,000 children.

"We call on donors to support the humanitarian appeal we are launching today. We need nearly $37 million to provide vital water, nutrition, food security and healthcare services to families at risk," said the UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Liberia, Aeneas C. Chuma.

"Without much needed donor assistance Liberia's most vulnerable communities will suffer. If donors act now we will be able to reach those communities who need our help the most."

Nearly half of Liberia's population lives in extreme poverty surviving on less than $ 1 per day. More than 64,000 Ivorian refugees remain in Liberia since post-election violence in Côte d'Ivoire forced them to flee and 25,000 former Liberian refugees who returned home last year continue to need essential humanitarian assistance, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a news release.

The appeal, named the "Critical Humanitarian Gaps (CHG) 2013 humanitarian response plan," focuses on the four-refugee hosting counties in south-eastern Liberia: Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Maryland, and River Gee. Bomi, Grand Kru and Montserado counties will also be targeted.

The 2013 Liberia CHG was prompted by persistent vulnerabilities affecting Liberians and Ivorian refugees in communities as a result of a 62 per cent funding shortfall in the Liberia 2012 Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP), which is the central tool used by the UN and other aid organizations to plan, coordinate, fund, implement and monitor their activities.