International Alert has been working in Liberia since 1993 and continued its work during the years of Liberia’s brutal civil war, seeking to build trust to keep communities together. Fourteen years of civil war led to the death of over 200,000 people, widespread rape and gender-based violence and the displacement of almost half the population. The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in August 2003 officially marked the end of Liberia’s brutal civil war and the beginning of a new era of post-conflict reconstruction, paving the way for peace and a power sharing administration.
The foundations of this stability remain fragile, and underlying causes of violent conflict still exist, especially given the likelihood of the extremely high expectations amongst Liberians of the new government being met. The situation in Liberia has generally improved. National stability now exists and there have been some improvements in public administration. However, conflicts have become more localised and visible, and they are being overlooked or mishandled. While optimism is high, peace in Liberia is built on fragile foundations, and potential spoilers abound. Violence is still a possibility, as Liberia faces enormous challenges.
Conflict Context
The conflict normalised violence, damaged community structures and destroyed basic social services, leaving the country in economic ruin and overrun with weapons. A failing justice system promotes a culture of impunity and reinforces a feeling of apathy and isolation. Thousands of ex-combatants remain unemployed following incomplete disarmament, demobilisation, rehabilitation and reintegration (DDRR) processes. The influx of returning refugees and the internally displaced to rural regions has exacerbated land disputes between ethnic groups. In addition, violent conflict and political tensions in neighbouring Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire have the potential to spill over into Liberia’s porous and neglected border areas.
The government has made many positive steps in terms of gender rights and equality, increasing the maximum sentence for rape, extending the legal definition of rape, guaranteeing women’s right to property, addressing widow inheritance whereby a woman and her property is inherited by her husband’s male relatives, opening a special court to try cases of gender-based violence and launching a national action plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325.
However, women and young people remain excluded from public leadership and decision making. Despite the election of a female president, the nature of institutional and political systems remains deeply patriarchal. Wealth creation should be as equitable as possible. Deepening economic problems are on the horizon, given a growing worldwide recession and its likely impact on investment, unemployment and inequity. Elections in 2011 and the prospect of the United Nations Mission in Liberia leaving the country add to the climate of uncertainty.
How
Alert’s focus is on strengthening the capacity of media practitioners to improve the quality, verity and conflict sensitivity of information disseminated and enhancing their roles as vehicles for transparency, democracy and non-violent change. We work in communities in border areas of the country to enhance the means of communication and ensure that they are not only aware of national political and social dialogue, but that they are also able to contribute to it.
We do this by facilitating access to information, increasing quality of reporting and providing training and support to amateur journalists and traditional communicators at community levels, thereby contributing to promoting dialogue and political participation for all Liberians. We work to improve access to impartial and balanced information in the eight remote counties of Liberia, so that people there understand the changing political situation as well as the government’s strategy of decentralising power to the counties and feel empowered to engage.
We provide training to community radio journalists who facilitate the dissemination of information to residents, engage with leaders and communities to enhance communication and produce radio programmes on post-conflict and gender issues to spark dialogue with and among listeners. To contribute to this goal, Alert has set up community radio stations in border communities. As they broadcast in local languages and their broadcast radius stretches across the border, they are listened to in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone, thereby contributing to cross-border cohesion.
Why
Based on the analysis that one of the root causes of the war was marginalisation of rural communities and the quick spread of rumours and misinformation, Alert has been deepening its engagement with those involved in distribution of information, including community radio stations and traditional communicators as well as journalists and media professionals.
Communication in rural Liberia must be enhanced, given real and perceived inequalities experienced in comparison with those living in the capital. We believe combining traditional and contemporary communication mechanisms enables the media to represent local people who thereby feel more connected to society and are more likely to resolve differences peacefully.
