Liberia 2011

Liberia 2011

Liberia in the world

Project and Host

GCJ partnered with a Liberian NGO to launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative (LPI) with a mission to build a community-based network to foster conflict resolution, reconciliation, and sustainable peace.  We formed Peacebuilder Teams from communities in the NE Counties that included elders, women and youth. They came together to share and learn skills (traditional practices, Compassionate Listening, Restorative Justice, large group dialogue), exchange experiences, and co-create a peaceful future for all Liberians. Peacebuilders share the tools learned in their home communities, then returned to deepen their relationships and share their learnings with the other teams in a second series of trainings.  Teams represent Liberia’s diversity to build understanding and trust across deep divides of age, ethnicity, class and gender. Read more about project and host here.

About Liberia

Civil war has left Liberia traumatized and devastated.  Conflict easily erupts at fault lines such as weakened respect for elders, ethnic tensions, and integration of refugees and ex-combatants.  There is a tremendous need for local leaders to experience and learn skills for inter-group trust, nonviolent conflict resolution, reconciliation and collaborative networking – the foundations of democracy, development, and a sustainable peace. LPI builds capacity to manage tensions at the grassroots, beyond Monrovia, and takes a powerful step towards creating a healthy Liberian national identity. The need was urgent in the face of imminent Presidential elections and drawdown of UN forces. Read more about Liberia here.

LPI – Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative

GCJ was the grateful recipient of a matching grant from the now defunct Foundation for Global Communtiy as well as the estate of a longtime friend and supporter, Marilyn Saunders. Through  the generosity of our supporters (THANK YOU ONE AND ALL), we were able to launch a scaled-down version of the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative in Spring, 2011, with $20,500.  We based our efforts in Monrovia and developed a core group of 35 diverse Peacebuilders.

Our partner organization, Population Caring Organization (PCO), helped us build powerful relationships with local groups. They worked on additional monthly events  to expand the reach of the Peacebuilder Initiative. Click here to read PCO’s full report.

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