News
Feb 2013
Moving on from years of instability and addressing the tensions that drive conflict is a significant governance challenge in the Mano River Union region. At a recent workshop, participants in District Platforms for Dialogue shared experiences from three countries on how they're working to affect positive change in their borderland communities.
Mar 2012
Building peace takes time. What does ending conflict mean in practice? How do good governance, justice and human security strengthen each other? These are pressing issues for any society recovering from violent conflict and just some of the questions addressed in Accord 23: Consolidating Peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The findings from this review of peace initiatives have been presented recently to local and international policymakers in West Africa and the USA.
Nov 2011
We are in the final stages of preparing a new Accord for publication in December which explores the war to peace transitions of Liberia and Sierra Leone. This Accord also forms part of the wider People's Peacemaking Perspectives project. Through analysing the impact of peacebuilding initiatives and current conflict dynamics it identifies possible measures to prevent conflict and consolidate peace, as well as drawing out broader lessons for peacebuilding.
Aug 2011
In August we held a four-day workshop to enhance the capacity of community-based and civil society organisations that focus on cross-border issues in the Mano River Union region. The purpose of the training, which explored participatory active research, was to identify a series of indicators to ‘nip potential conflict in the bud’ before it escalates. The event took place in Monrovia, Liberia, with representatives who work in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone meeting together to share their experiences.
Aug 2011
Talking borders is a powerful docu-drama about issues border community people face as they go about their daily lives in the MRU. With our partners in Sierra Leone we have held screenings in Freetown this summer for representatives of the country's security forces, Immigration and Customs agencies. Our aim is to gather security concerns that will feed into a policy dialogue in November. The film was previously screened in 24 border communities and local audiences took that opportunity to share their own issues of concern.
Mar 2011
Conciliation Resources is to stage a series of workshops in Sierra Leone which will be attended by people from Liberia, Guinea and Cote D’Ivoire. They will participate in country and regional analysis sessions on what is driving conflict in West Africa, as well as receive training in EU advocacy work.
