The Challenges and Opportunities of Security Sector Reform in Post ...

Meetings
The team met with a broad cross-section of relevant actors, including members of the
National Transitional Government of Liberia, the Legislative Assembly, the UN Mission
in Liberia, the security forces, the University of Liberia and civil society (Annex A
provides a full list of the groups and officials consulted).
While this report focuses primarily on the outcome of the Liberia Action Research Team’s
visit to Liberia, it also presents some general impressions on the state of the international
response to the situation in Liberia, nearly one year after the deployment of the UN
Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
II. GENERAL IMPRESSIONS
The team’s visit was limited to Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, and its suburbs including a
brief stop at the Firestone Rubber Plantation and neighbouring Harbel. On the streets of
Monrovia and its suburbs, there was a general atmosphere of confidence with a full
resumption of commercial and social activities currently underway. The presence of the
UN appears to have created a general sense of security and confidence among ordinary
Liberians in the capital. The team was nonetheless struck by the dilaplidated state of the
public infrastructure and, in particular, the poor working conditions in Government
offices and Ministries and in the National Transitional Legislative Assembly. The level of
poverty and deprivation in some of the areas visited was striking. Furthermore, there
were striking divergences of view between the different groups working to bring longterm
peace to the country, with the feelings of optimism of some tempered by the real
concerns raised by others that the road ahead contains many obstacles .
None of this should come as a surprise in a situation where there are numerous actors
from different armed factions, political parties and civil society groups working together -
particularly those former adversaries who signed the CPA. Yet it is also worth noting that
there are significant issues at stake for the future of Liberia. In a country that has
experienced considerable destruction during its 14-year conflict, it was therefore not
surprising to the team that Liberians have a tendency to highlight almost every area of
reconstruction and rehabilitation as urgent without necessarily identifying clear priorities.
Furthermore, despite ongoing efforts to build a new Liberia, it is also evident that there
are still certain typologies of behaviour, which triggered the divisions of the past, which
remain present in post-war Liberian society. Consequently, in spite of the general
atmosphere of confidence and security that greets visitors to Monrovia, there was general
concern across the board among people we consulted that a sustainable peace will not
materialise unless it is built in the right way.
OBSERVATIONS
Implementation of the CPA is being played out against the backdrop of serious
challenges to governance and security in Liberia. The following are some of the group’s
observations concerning the policy responses required by Liberia’s new Government,
UNMIL and other actors:
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