International Alert and the Delegation of the European Union to Liberia have announced a two-year initiative aimed at strengthening the voice of Liberia’s civil society organisations (CSOs) in the national reconciliation process.
The project, entitled “Strengthening Civil Society’s Voice in National Reconciliation and Dealing with the Past”, aims to improve communication and understanding between communities and policymakers on the conflict risks and opportunities for long-term peace and reconciliation in Liberia.
Activities will include training workshops on conflict analysis, conflict-sensitivity, advocacy and communications for the National Civil Society Council (NCSC), the translation and dissemination of the country’s reconciliation policies into local languages, the production of educational materials, and a series of community debates.
It will support the NCSC in shaping the discourse around the implementation of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia, helping some of the communities most severely affected by Liberia’s civil war to access information on the reconciliation process. Community recommendations on reconciliation will then be sent to national policymakers.
Jackson Speare, Head of Office for International Alert in Liberia, says:
‘This initiative is very timely: it comes right at the time when Liberian CSOs have just elected a new NCSC, tasked with coordinating their work for the next three years. It’s therefore not only an opportunity for the newly elected council to develop its coordination capacity, but through direct engagement with local communities and community-based organisations on national reconciliation, this initiative will also enhance the links and interactions between national and community-based organisations.’
The initiative is sponsored by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and will be implemented by Alert in partnership with two Liberian NGOs, the Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (CJPS) and New African Research and Development Agency (NARDA).