PBC High-Level Meeting on Liberia - Presentation on the Lessons identified from UNMIL support to rule of law and security sector reform

The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) proposes to convene a meeting of the Liberia Configuration to:

1. launch and present the new five-year National Development Plan of the Government of Liberia, the Pro Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development.
2. provide Member-States with the opportunity to consider the lessons identified from United Nations Mission in Liberia support to the rule of law and the security sector reform, and its impact on the country’s sustainable peace and development.

The first part of the meeting will be dedicated to present and discuss the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (2018 to 2023). The presentation will be facilitated by representatives Government of Liberia and the United Nations Country Team.Participants will be invited to discuss how Member-States and partners of Liberia can combine efforts in support of the implementation of the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development.

The second part of the meeting will focus on presenting to Member-States the key findings of the report Lessons identified from UNMIL support to Rule of Law in Liberia. The presentation will be conducted by the Director of DCAF, and the debate facilitated by the previous UNMIL DSRSG Waldemar Very and the PBC Chair.

On the UNMIL lessons’ presentation the aim is to:

1. Highlight UNMIL ROL/SSR contribution to peacebuilding, demonstrating why multidimensional peacekeeping operations should be mandated by the Security Council and resourced by UNGA to support nationally-led ROL/SSR processes in the framework of the SG’s Agenda for Peacekeeping Initiative and the Declaration of Shared Commitments.

To fulfil the above the main goals are to:

-          Provide an overview of key lessons identified in UNMIL support to rule of law and SSR in Liberia and their impact in the country’s political stability and sustainable peace. This includes:

(i)                 the establishment of a foundational legal/institutional framework of ROL

(ii)               contribution to sustaining the political settlement (including the elections) and

(iii)             how ROL/SSR interventions have been mainstreamed in the national sustainable peace/development architecture (Agenda for Transformation, Peacebuilding Plan and NDP).

-          Highlight lessons that demonstrate the importance of linking political and rule of law/SSR process (examples such as the role of justice in supporting the Liberia courts to mitigate instabilities during the election, the role of SSR in coordinating the security transition and ensuring that the armed forced remained neutral during the elections, the role of UNMIL in the overall election’s security, etc.)

-          Present suggested recommendations from the PBC to the Security Council on (i) sequencing transition of peace operations, and (ii) planning and managing the mandate of peace operations (on ROL/SSR areas) across conflict spectrum.