Case Studies
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), security system reform (SSR) and small arms control in Liberia
Context
In 2003, following the end of the war in Liberia, a comprehensive process of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of ex-combatants was begun. DDR was followed by limited SSR in 2004 and small arms and light weapons (SALW) control in 2005.
Entry point
DDR, small arms control and SSR are related if distinct categories of intervention in post-conflict contexts. In Liberia DDR provided a platform for intervention in the immediate post-confl ict environment, and small arms control and SSR were integrated at a later stage. Baseline assessments and studies undertaken to shape DDR — including a review to determine appropriate levels of security services for meeting national needs and the availability of small arms — proved crucial for the small arms and
SSR programmes that followed.
Lessons learned
DDR, SSR and SALW control should be integrated — The integration of DDR, SSR and SALW control initiatives prior to and during the post-conflict recovery process increases the sustainability of peacebuilding.
Poor performance in one component of DDR can undermine SSR and SALW control — unrealistic expectations in disarmament initiatives led to riots in Monrovia after ex-combatants received mixed messages concerning cash payments for weapons surrender. Moreover, weak entry criteria and a shortage of qualified personnel staffing the screening process contributed to the admission of too many ex-combatants, leading to funding shortfalls.
Regional approaches to DDR, SSR and SALW control are essential to increasing programme performance — During the disarmament phase only 27 000 weapons were collected. This was partly attributed to weapons collection programmes in Cote d’Ivoire. Perceived higher compensation for weapons in that country led to their being trafficked there from Liberia. Regional approaches could increase the effectiveness of disarmament by avoiding false economies and falsely raised expectations.
Impact
It is too early to assess the overall impact of DDR and related SSR activities in Liberia. However, DDR contributed to a reduction in violence and increased stability for the 2006 elections and subsequent SSR. By early 2006, recruitment and training of the new armed forces started with plans to create a 2 000-strong army. Future challenges include ensuring parliamentary oversight and civilian control over all security forces; developing a comprehensive and inclusive national security policy; and securing
stable donor support.
Gender Mainstreaming Case Example of ISSAT’s mid-term evaluation of Swedish Police Project in Liberia
In 2018, the Swedish National Police (SNP) requested ISSAT to conduct a mid-term evaluation for its Police Cooperation project in Liberia. The project was implemented by the SNP between 2016 and 2019. The purpose of the project was to achieve improved quality of crime investigations including on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), basic crime investigation, basic crime scene investigation and cooperation between the Liberian National Police (LNP) and the Prosecution Service in three police station areas.
The components of the project focused on addressing important challenges and needs as formulated by the LNP and prosecutors such as:
- Training in basic crime investigations, basic crime scene investigations and investigations of SGBV crimes.
- Guidelines to optimise the quality control of any crime investigation case forwarded to the Prosecution Service.
- Basic forensic equipment.
- Improved premises and facilities for one stop centres and comfort rooms for SGBV victims.
- Improved cooperation between police and prosecutors.
- Public awareness raising.
ISSAT’s evaluation was one exercise in a series of engagements with the Swedish National Police. It built on previous lessons learned studies on police reform in Liberia and national policy documents. The evaluation included a 7-day mission to Liberia and visits to local police zones for direct observations at police station level. The mission also included semi-structured interviews with beneficiaries as well as SNP normally based in Stockholm.
Main Takeaways
The evaluation was carried out based on OECD-DAC criteria (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability) which is aligned with ISSAT’s methodological approach for evaluations. Guided by the terms of reference, ISSAT closely liaised with the project’s gender expert to understand and better integrate in the evaluation’s approach the main components of effective police investigations into sexual based crime and victim protection.
LESSON 1: Gender equality approaches need to be an explicit part of the evaluation methodology
Throughout the data gathering phase, ISSAT ensured consistent inquiry into the project’s gender sensitive approaches and strategies. Under each of the evaluation criteria, ISSAT looked at gender relevant issues and dimensions. The results of ISSAT’s evaluation found that SNP systematically promoted gender equality, and allocated resources for combatting sexual and gender-based violence crimes. This reflected Swedish commitment to this gender equality and combatting SGBV, through project strategies that promoted awareness-raising among local counterparts.
LESSON 2: Gender equality subject-matter expertise is essential for articulating project impact
The Swedish National Police included a gender expert as part of the project’s team. The gender expert on SGBV was not based in Liberia but deployed up to four times a year. Having a gender expert as part of the project further strengthened the quality of the project’s deliverables, as well as the communications capability for the project to create traction and ownership of its priorities amongst stakeholders. It increased focus on SGBV reporting, achievements and outcomes for Swedish National Police, as well as enabled greater synergies between the different work streams.
LESSON 3: Build on what works at the local context
ISSAT’s evaluation demonstrated that the Swedish support project achieved positive results from its capacity building engagements on SGBV because it built on existing training material already used by the Liberian National Police and the UN Mission in Liberia. This method ensured that the project’s contribution was consistent with current skills and techniques used by LNP. The added value of the SNP was therefore to bring in practical implementation techniques addressing victims of SGBV. This made the trainings and practical elements relevant and grounded in a Liberian context rather than in a Swedish model, contributing directly to the success of the project.
LESSON 4: Comfort rooms are an effective protection measure if used appropriately
Another key output of the Swedish support project was the usage of comfort rooms where victims can report SGBV crimes. Comfort rooms require minimal maintenance costs if used in a consistent manner. ISSAT’s evaluation showed that it is important to establish guidelines and objectives for their usage to prevent improper, or unintended usage of the dedicated facilities. Moreover, comfort rooms need to be included in national regulations, operational documents and strategies in order to enable continuous monitoring and review of their usage by SGBV victims.
LESSON 5: Donor coordination on cross-cutting issues is crucial
ISSAT’s evaluation demonstrated that engagement in coordination activities ensures critical information gathering on primary needs when it comes to SGBV crime investigations and forensic evidence gathering. Active and close collaboration between donors and national stakeholders in the form of task forces or coordination groups strengthens the effectiveness and impact of donor efforts and programming. It also provides a platform to explore whether the project is on the right track and opens new channels to troubleshoot if and when the project faces resistance, blockages or challenges.
LESSON 6: Avoid revictimization during evaluation of SGBV programming
To safeguard and protect the victims of SGBV crimes, there is a need for rules and procedures to be put in place in the methodology in order to prevent “revictimization” of victims. Questions and discussions on the person’s prior traumatic experience and re-examination of details and actions that explain the incident and the police’s response could put the SGBV survivor at risk, as well as expose their family or community members to unintended consequences. Evaluation teams conducting impact or effectiveness reviews of a SGBV programs need to design their approach avoiding revictimizing the victims.
Lesson 7: Use awareness-raising campaigns as an outreach tool and not only for visibility
When awareness campaigns are used as a strategy for the project to achieve its objectives, it is important that these are used as outreach channels to raise awareness on SGBV rather than merely be project visibility tools. Such campaigns also enable continuous monitoring on SGBV issues and serve as powerful advocacy tools for national counterparts to their maintain focus on those crimes and combatting them. Projects that integrate empirical evidence of outcomes in their awareness campaigns tend to achieve higher levels of conviction and credibility, particularly on a complex and culturally charged subject area such as SGBV.
Tools
Ferramenta 2 : Programação da Reforma do Sector de Segurança
Esta publicação faz parte da Caixa de Ferramentas para a Reforma e Governação do Sector de Segurança na África Ocidental. Visa apoiar a implementação do quadro de políticas para a reforma e governação do sector de segurança da Comunidade Económica dos Estados da África Ocidental (CEDEAO). Através de orientações e conselhos práticos, adaptados ao contexto da África Ocidental e baseados em experiências regionais, a Caixa de Ferramentas visa facilitar a elaboração de políticas, bem como a implementação e gestão de processos de reforma do sector de segurança (RSS) a nível nacional.
Para maiores informações sobre a Ferramenta 2 : Programação da Reforma do Sector de Segurança, siga o link para o website do DCAF.
Por favor, siga o link para ter acesso às outros documentos da Caixa de Ferramentas para a Reforma e Governação do Sector de Segurança na África Ocidental:
Ferramenta 1 : Liderança Política e Apropriação Nacional dos Processos da Reforma do Sector de Segurança
Ferramenta 4 : Gestão Eficaz do Apoio Externo à Reforma do Sector de Segurança
Ferramenta 6 : Envolvimento da Sociedade Civil na Governação e Reforma do Sector de Segurança
Esta é a versão em Português da publicação. It is also available in English et disponible en français.
Policy and Research Papers
National Security Strategy of Liberia - 2008
The National Security Strategy comprises a historic overview of security challenges, the popular vision of national security for Liberia, the key security issues threatening that vision and now confronting Liberia, proposals for a redesigned and legally accountable security architecture within which all the security agencies and bodies must operate to address these specific threats, and the legislative reforms required to effect the transformation. In particular, the National Security Strategy focuses on improving coordination and oversight of multi-agency security activities, the statutory instruments governing them, their accountability, sustainability, and resourcing plus their operational efficacy. The underlying tenet of the NSSRL ishuman security for development. A sustainable, coordinated architecture is the ultimate goal to meet the security needs ofLiberiaand Liberians as articulated in the Security Policy Statement adopted by the Government of Liberia. The NSSRL forms the substance of Pillar One of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), because without security, there can be no lasting development.
Local Ownership and Security Sector Reform
Over the past two decades, in response to the underwhelming results of international development efforts across the Third World, arguments concerning the importance of local ownership have been gaining currency within the international development community. At its core, the discourse around ownership revolves around fundamental questions of agency: who decides, who controls, who implements, and who evaluates. The growing emphasis on local ownership, then, emerged as a critique of mainstream development practice and the broader cult of Western expertise which underpins it. As Joseph Stiglitz argued a decade ago, a vision of development in which all the answers and all the agency are seen to lie in the hands of foreigners is inherently problematic and ultimately self-defeating: ‘We have seen again and again that [local] ownership is essential for successful transformation: policies that are imposed from outside may be grudgingly accepted on a superficial basis, but will rarely be implemented as intended’. Since then, the principle of local ownership has been viewed increasingly as a precondition for effective development assistance, even if
the translation of the principle into actual practice remains an ongoing challenge.
Customary Justice and Legal Pluralism in Post-Conflict and Fragile Societies
While there has been a growing interest in customary justice systems among rule of law practitioners, it has remained very much at the margins of justice reform strategies. This session will challenge us to view customary justice and other forms of legal pluralism not as a side issue, but as a fundamental part of the justice landscapes in which we work. It will take a critical stance in reviewing the current range of overall policy approaches to legal pluralism and the preconceptions and assumptions that underlie those approaches. It will seek to identify and critically review how different approaches (rights-based, developmental, expanding access to justice, peace-building, state-building etc.,) tend to “frame the problem” when it comes to engagement with legal pluralism and will reflect specifically on how these approaches affect a range of key post conflict objectives. Finally it will consider the building blocks needed to define strategic objectives for engagement with legal pluralism.
Decentralising Liberia’s Security Sector: the Role of Non-Governmental Actors in Justice and Security Delivery
This article discussed the reduction of the UNMIL presence in Liberia and the rolling out a network of regional security and justice hubs across the country. The aim is to decentralise security, justice services and personnel to increase citizens’ access to justice and avoid the creation of a security vacuum.
Mapping Study on Gender and Security Sector Reform Actors and Activities in Liberia
DCAF conducted a mapping study on Gender and Security Sector Reform Actors and Activities in Liberia from November 2010 to March 2011. The mapping study was undertaken by an independent consultant, Mr Cecil Griffiths from the Liberian National Law Enforcement Association (LINLEA). This research was made possible thanks to the cooperation of most gender and SSR actors in Liberia including the Ministry of Gender and Development (MoGD), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and the Civil Society Organization Working Group on Security Sector Reform.
This project aimed to complement existing information on gender and SSR issues in Liberia and to reinforce information-sharing and coordination between actors.
On 31 March 2011, LINLEA and DCAF organised a workshop in Monrovia to complete and validate the findings of the study. In addition to validating the findings of the study, the participants made key recommendations related to gender and training, policy development, programmes and activities. The report was launched in Monrovia on 23 September 2011.
Liberia: Parliamentary Oversight and Lessons Learned from Internationalized Security Sector Reform
Following the signing of the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ending the Liberian civil war, there have been revitalized efforts for security sector reform, led principally by the United States and the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of (i) the extent and effect of international support for parliamentary oversight of the security sector relative to other reform priorities, and (ii) to assess the potential impact of the reform process on preventing conflict recurrence in Liberia.
Reviewing the Justice and Security Hub Modality as Piloted in Liberia
‘The Republic of Bangui’ or ‘the Republic of Monrovia’ are phrases we sometimes hear from practitioners to describe post conflict countries where very few services exist outside the capital city. This is especially the case for security – the critical public good in post conflict countries. In response to the need to bring security services closer to the citizens who often need them most, the Government of Liberia and the United Nations are piloting a new approach financed by the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) – the so-called ‘Justice and Security Hubs’. The donor community and the United Nations are watching closely. If this works, there is indication from UN officials that the model could potentially be replicated in other settings such as the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti and the northern states of South Sudan. If the hub concept is capable of being adapted and successful elsewhere, the United Nations will not only have added a new instrument to its peacekeeping toolkit but will also firmly demonstrate how the UN Peacebuilding Fund can in essence be catalytic in fostering long-term and comprehensive approaches to peacebuilding. This practice note outlines the process of developing and constructing the first hub in Liberia, which is due to be partly operational by the end of 2012, and provides a prognosis on its chances for success.
Post-Conflict Peacebuilding in Liberia
This publication is the result of a Seminar with participants from varied sectors of the Liberian government. Its main findings show that despite good beginnings in the security sector, several challenges in terms of prioritization, resources, training and strategizing remain. A section on the country's DDR efforts highlight the accomplishments and challenges of the program at the time (2007)Furthermore, this publication formulates a series of open questions with regards to the issues of gender sensitivity in DDR, verification of actual disarmament, reintegration of adult ex-combatants as well as the geographical imbalance of reforms.
State-Civil Society Interface in Liberia’s Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
Post-conflict peacebuilding demands concerted efforts from all stakeholders to ensure its success; particularly, civil society must complement the capacity of the conflict-weary state. A successful peacebuilding, however, requires a harmonious relationship between the state and civil society. This paper analyses state-civil society relations at different phases of Liberia’s protracted post-conflict peacebuilding process. The paper argues that civil society groups have played and continue to play important role in the peacebuilding process in Liberia and therefore need the support of the Liberian state and the international community to continue their watchdog role. The paper concludes by drawing lessons from the Liberian experience for other post-conflict states.
Report of the Liberia National Dialogue on Security Sector Reform
The National Dialogue, co-hosted by the Liberian Transitional Government and UNMIL, brings together all statutory security agencies of Liberia to help address the critical problem of Security Reform, which is attributed to the main causes of the Liberian conflict. This report summarizes the discussions that took place among these stakeholders
Books
Equal Opportunity Peacekeeping: Women, Peace, and Security in Post-Conflict States
Recent developments such as Sweden's' Feminist Foreign Policy, the "Hillary Doctrine," and the integration of women into combat roles in the U.S. have propelled gender equality to the forefront of international politics. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, however, has been integrating gender equality into peacekeeping missions for nearly two decades as part of the women, peace and security agenda that has been most clearly articulated in UNSC Resolution 1325. To what extent have peacekeeping operations achieved gender equality in peacekeeping operations and been vehicles for promoting gender equality in post-conflict states?
While there have been major improvements related to women's participation and protection, there is still much left to be desired. Sabrina Karim and Kyle Beardsley argue that gender power imbalances between the sexes and among genders place restrictions on the participation of women in peacekeeping missions. Specifically, discrimination, a relegation of women to safe spaces, and sexual exploitation, abuse, harassment, and violence (SEAHV) continue to threaten progress on gender equality. Using unique cross-national data on sex-disaggregated participation of peacekeepers and on the allegations of SEAHV, as well as original data from the UN Mission in Liberia, the authors examine the origins and consequences of these challenges. Karim and Beardsley also identify and examine how increasing the representation of women in peacekeeping forces, and even more importantly through enhancing a more holistic value for "equal opportunity," can enable peacekeeping operations to overcome the challenges posed by power imbalances and be more of an example of and vehicle for gender equality globally.
Liberia’s Security Sector Legislation
This publication is the result of an Interactive Needs Assessment on Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector in Liberia, which was held at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre from the 28th to the 30th of March 2007. The event was part of the activities of the DCAF Africa Programme, in collaboration with the Conflict Security and Development Group, Kings College, University of London and the African Security Sector Network (ASSN). The objective was to facilitate a process which would enable Liberian legislators identify what they require in order to deliver effective parliamentary oversight of the security sector after protracted conflict. Report of the Interactive Needs Assessment is available at: http://www.dcaf.ch/news/_diarydetailskms.cfm?param0_219=2007&lng=en&id=29378&nav1=2.
Other Documents
UNDPKO SSR Newsletter No. 13, January-March 2012
The SSR Newsletter, published on a quarterly basis, is aimed at providing an update on recent activities of the SSR Unit and an overview of upcoming initiatives, in addition to sharing relevant information and announcements with the greater SSR community.
UNMIL Timeline of Key Events 2003-2018
This infographic illustrates the timeline of events for UNMIL between 2003 and 2018. It was created to feature in ISSAT's report Lessons Identified From United Nations Mission in Liberia Support to Rule of Law which was produced as part our mandate Lessons Identification on the Work of UNMIL's Rule of Law Pillar.
To view a larger version of the infographic, please click on the file below.