Liberia

Alert has been working in Liberia since 1993 on a range of projects with various groups. The main focus of our current work is the media and traditional communications through the Liberia Media Project.

Given the real and perceived inequalities between those living in the capital city and those in rural areas, it’s vital that communication be enhanced in rural Liberia. The Liberia Media Project attempts to enable groups who feel marginalised and alienated to articulate their views, needs and rights through the media rather than resorting to violence and ensuring that journalists are trained in responsible reporting. In addition, we aim to improve access to impartial and balanced information in the eight most conflict-affected counties of Liberia – so that people there understand the ever-changing political situation and feel empowered to engage with processes originating in Monrovia.

With our local partners (the Justice and Peace Commission of the Liberian Catholic Church, the Centre for Justice and Peace and the Press Union of Liberia) this project provides training for local journalists and traditional communicators, establishes community radio stations in rural areas where access to information is scarce, as well as organising Peace Festivals in rural areas, celebrating the cultural traditions of the region and communicating messages about peacebuilding and reconciliation. We believe that the combination of traditional and contemporary communication mechanisms enables media to represent local people, who in turn feel more connected to their society and are more likely to resolve differences peacefully. By mid-2007, the project will have established eight community radio stations in strategic areas of Liberia. These stations will enable information to be broadcast across the country and into Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone.

The Liberia Media Project is part of a wider strategy to build sustainable peace in Liberia and the sub-region through communicating messages about peacebuilding and reconciliation. The combination of traditional and contemporary communication mechanisms can enable media to represent local people, who in turn feel more empowered in their society and are more likely to resolve differences peacefully. Across the sub-region, communication and improved access to imformation can have a powerful effect on conflicts that spill across borders and threaten areas of stability.

The conflict context

Liberia has suffered from violent conflict for the past 25 years. The causes of conflict are deeply rooted in the country’s history, characterised by gross inequalities in the distribution of power and resources and a reliance on violence to realise economic and political objectives. Samuel Doe’s regime, which began with a bloody coup d’etat in 1980, ruled through repression and corruption, committing gross violations of human rights and providing almost no basic social services or mechanisms for widespread democratic participation. When Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia attacked the government in 1989, a seven-year civil war began, which led to the death of over 200,000 people, mass rape and the displacement of half the population. Although Taylor came to power through democratic elections in 1997 his regime proved to be equally corrupt and repressive, suppressing freedom of expression in the name of ‘national security’ – which led to more violence, and ended with Taylor’s exile to Nigeria in August 2003. Taylor is currently awaiting a war crimes tribunal at the Hague in 2007.

In a country of 2.9 million, almost half Liberia's population (1.4 million) lives in the capital, Monrovia. Many areas beyond are inaccessible by road and remain isolated. Politicians and civil servants spend little or no time in those regions, and few of the legal and developmental changes augured in the capital are experienced in rural areas. This marginalisation can express itself in feelings of apathy and a reinforcement of the culture of impunity.

Liberia has officially entered the post-conflict reconstruction era, although the situation remains volatile. US-educated Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected in October 2005, becoming the first elected female head of state in Africa. As the first presidential election since the end of Liberia's civil war, the process marked a major step forward for the country. But violence is still a possibility: a heavy debt burden is hampering post-conflict reconstruction; thousands of ex-combatants remain jobless after an incomplete disarmament, demobilisation, rehabilitation and reintegration (DDRR) process; and the influx of returning refugees and IDPs to rural regions has exacerbated land disputes between ethnic groups.incomplete. In addition, violent conflict and political tensions in neighbouring Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire have the potential to spill over into Liberia’s neglected border areas.

For more information contact Sidy Dieye

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Last updated: February 2007