Watanic Jabateh, an enumerator for IPA in Liberia, died on October 9, 2014. She was 25.

 

Jabateh began working as an enumerator for IPA-Liberia in July 2013. She helped gather data from some 3,000 out-of school youth in urban Monrovia on a project called Promoting Sustainable Partnerships for Economic Transformation, or PROSPECTS. The data will enable researchers to evaluate the impact of a cash-for-work program and a psychosocial support program for youth in urban Liberia.

 

Her co-workers remember her as enthusiastic, friendly, extremely funny, and smart.

 

“We are very sad to hear about this loss,” said Andrew Tedesco, the Country Director of IPA in Liberia and Sierra Leone. “Our thoughts go out to Watanic’s family.”  

 

Jabateh was born on February 20, 1989 and grew up in Paynesville, on the outskirts of Monrovia. She graduated from high school in Paynesville in 2010 then went on to pursue a degree in management and accounting from the University of Liberia. In Liberia, only 9 percent of girls complete secondary school in Liberia, according to UNDP. 

 

Before coming to IPA, she worked as an enumerator for other organizations.

 

Sylvan Herskowitz, a doctoral student at the University of California at Berkeley who worked on PROSPECTS, remembers her as intelligent, with a great sense of humor. “Watanic was the exact type of strong, smart woman that Liberia really needs,” he said.