Liberia Media Project
“working for the transformation of conflict through dialogue”

The Liberia Media Project is a partnership of the UK-based International Alert and three Liberian groups, namely, Press Union of Liberia, Center for Justice & Peace Studies and the Justice and Peace Commission. The project was set up in 1998 to address the unheard voices, who also have a stake in the future of Liberia.

Traditional Media Workshop Convenes in Gbarpolu

The project will endeavour to achieve this aim by;
• Improving the effectiveness of using the media and traditional mechanisms for peace building;
• Supporting capacity building for community radio and ensuring access by the country’s youth;
• Equipping the youth, including ex-combatants, with leadership skills in peace building;
• Improving the existing communication channels within the community;
• Maintaining and giving social prominence to peace award.

Over the years of its activities in Liberia, the Project has provided a direct opportunity for the Liberian people to have a direct role in helping to restore peace in Liberia. The participation in town meetings, symposia and workshops have indeed told them of a role in the peace process. Additional activities like the peace festival and the encounter of communicators and communities have lent them additional opportunities to increase their role in the process. This made them aware that the situation impacts upon them, whether negatively or positively, and offers a challenge for them to work towards peace.

During the first year, the project was implemented in Grand Gedeh, Maryland, River Gee and Grand Kru Counties. For the current year, the activities are being implemented in Lofa, Nimba, Bong and Gbarpolu Counties.

The project also intents to plant communities radios in a needy community in each of the concerned conties. It is noteworthy to mention that the community radio stations are meant to spread messages of peace and good will and providing civic education that would assist the populace in determining how to work along wit their new government in preserving the hard earned peace.

Peace & Cultural Festival
Gbarnga, Bong County
March 2-4, 2006

The Liberia Media Project hosted a Peace and Cultural Festival in Gbarnga, Bong County from March 2-4, 2006. The festival brought together traditional communicators, community residents, local government officials and other stakeholders, in sharing their understanding of the conflict and their approaches to finding and sustaining amicable resolution measures. Participants came from Gbarpolu, Bong, Nimba and Lofa Counties. A troupe also came in from neighboring Guinea.

Participants presented their culture and tradition through music, drama, dance and food. They also shared their traditional history, especially as it has to do with conflict resolution measures. There were as well closed interactions between elected officials and participants from their respective counties. This was meant to signal means through which citizens can be involved in the process of good governance.

There was also the opportunity for leaders from various local government units to get to collaborate with their counterparts, and to seek a clearer understanding of why one community succeeds in a given situation, when others are failing.

A similar event was held in Fish Town, River Gee County in February 2005. Then, the Liberia Media Project hosted Dan Smith, Secretary General of International Alert and a delegation from the West African Civil Society Forum.

More than three thousand persons attended any stage of the festival. An inspiring keynote address was delivered by the acknowledged Liberian academic, diplomat and historian, Professor Joseph Saye Guannu, Director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution at the Cuttington University.

Professor Guannu called upon the audience to think about the cause of the conflict as the means of sustaining the peace. He glossed over various scenes of conflict in contemporary Liberia, and noted that only knowledge of the cause of the conflict can provide a good approach to its resolution.
Professor Guannu also recalled how people from various parts of Liberia had lived together in peace for many years, and noted that the goodness of Liberian tradition, which kept such peace can also be utilized in making and preserving peace in present day Liberia.

Other remarks at the event were heard from Bong County Superintendent Daniel Weetol, International Alert’s West Africa Manager Lulsegged Abebe, Gen. Zia, Commander of UNMIL Sector 3, Assistant Information Minister for Culture Jailee Quiee and Bong County Senator Franklin Siakor.

Local government representatives and legislators came in from Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties.

Traditional Media Workshop Convenes in Gbarpolu

The Liberia Media Project on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 began a three-day Traditional Media Workshop in Bopolu, Gbarpolu County.

The workshop involved traditional communicators – town criers, traditional story tellers, language announcers, dramatists and community radio announcers from the northern and central counties of Lofa, Nimba, Bong and Gbarpolu.

Participants were lectured on how to make peace concepts an integral part of their daily works, and discussed the peace process, and how their work can contribute to making it better. There were also discussions on post-electoral reconciliation and governance, including issues of concern like the repatriation and resettlement of displaced persons and refugees.

The workshop also served as a forum to empower the communicators in their work.

Facilitators at the workshop included media and peace building experts from International Alert (UK), the Press Union of Liberia, the Justice & Peace Commission, and the Center for Justice and Peace Studies, the Flomo Theater and other institutions.