Liberia
 | Talking Drum Studio LiberiaIn 1997, after Liberia’s devastating civil war, our team established the radio production house Talking Drum Studio with the audacious goal of sowing the seeds of post-war recovery through innovative radio programming. For more than two decades, we have been creating dramas, news programs, talk shows, and soap operas spreading messages of peace, unity, and reconciliation. |
 | National Conference elevates Grassroots Voices in LiberiaAt a pivotal time in Liberia’s history, we are helping local voices become part of the national reconciliation process. In 1989, Liberia plunged into civil war. What started as a rebellion against a corrupt government evolved into a 14-year nightmare featuring violence, mass displacement, and devastating destruction. Images […] |
 | Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Findings SymposiumLiberia Strategic Analysis will be hosting a symposium on the findings of the first social cohesion and reconciliation index (SCORE) for Liberia. |
 | Final Evaluation – Jan 2017 – “Engaging Children and Youth as Partners in Preventing Violence against Children”“Engaging Children and Youth as Partners in Preventing Violence against Children” was a regional project funded by the European Commission. It aimed at contributing to the eradication of all sorts of violence against children and youth in three border-sharing post-conflict countries of West Africa: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The external evaluation focused the effectiveness of the project and the quality of young people’s participation. It included a mixed methodology approach, with emphasis on qualitative methods. In each country, it included document review, surveys, semi-structured focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Youth were involved as researchers in the project and successfully conducted research which identified the worst forms of violence in the three countries and well as current approaches addressing them. Conclusions and recommendations were intended to be used broadly to influence country level programmatic and policy actions, and to mainstream findings at a societal level to enable communities to better prevent worst forms of violence. It was considered effective and useful but took place on a relatively smaller scale than planned. Unfortunately, was little to no evidence of changes of programmatic or policy actions in any of the countries, though there were evidence of project activities catalyzing significant community action projects to prevent violence against children. A key success of the project was the active involvement of youth researchers (YRs) which ensured the implementation of activities, as well as a strong impact on the YRs themselves who grew personally and professionally. There was an adequate gender balance, and the participation was deeply meaningful to them and to the project. Many children and youth felt their voice was valued for the first time in their lives, and the project’s youth-led and participatory innovation drew attention from many stakeholders. The YRs provided credibility, commitment, and creativity that helped the project succeed despite many obstacles, including the worst Ebola Crisis in history. However, poor communication and coordination hindered the project’s success. Further, cases of vicarious trauma among the YRs was identified by the evaluation consultant who had a background in child phycology, and SFCG identified adequate actions to respond to this serious issue. In terms of recommendations, the YRs should be well prepared emotionally and psychologically before going to the field, while in the field, and after returning from the field. The potential risks of vicarious trauma should be assessed, identified, and addressed during the project design phase, and future proposals related to child and youth participation should be reviewed by qualified professionals with contextually relevant child and youth participation experience. Further, SFCG and primary stakeholders should increase the usage and distribution of project outputs in order to optimize the effectiveness of similar projects. Resources:
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| Final Evaluation – October 2016 – “Open for Business”: Promoting Equitable Land Rights Protection in Sierra Leone, Liberia and GuineaAs a response to multinational corporations’ large-scale land acquisitions in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Search for Common Ground (Search) initiated this project with the purpose of addressing land dispossessions which have resulted in local people losing access to land, which directly sustains their livelihoods and food security. In collaboration with national partners, Search aimed to reduce the potential for land rights conflicts by enhancing the capacity of civil society, state actors and investing companies to promote equitable land rights. The project also aimed to increase popular understanding of land rights in communities affected by corporate land concessions. The evaluation was carried out using quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, including a documentary review and a field study across the three countries. Through this was not a cross-experimental evaluation, 360 women and men took part in treatment (participants) and comparison (non-participants) groups in each country, which isolated attitudinal, behavioral and perception changes about land rights and conflict resolution. The main stakeholders of the project were directly exposed to the national laws pertaining to land rights in their countries. The Land Management Committees created in Sierra Leone and Liberia were sensitized on the legal procedures to follow to protect their members’ rights. In Guinea, Concertation platforms were created to encourage dialogue around large scale land transfer between stakeholders, mining companies and government leaders. Additionally, as a result of the project’s activities, popular understanding of land rights increased by 59 percentage points. Overall, the project had very positive results raising awareness about land rights and the consequences of leasing land to foreign investors. However, the timeframe for the project implementation was too short to strengthen results, and could benefit from an extension to ensure that the three countries are better equipped to negotiate land acquisitions with large financial powers. |
 | Search and the UN Mission map out societal trends in LiberiaWe are using the SCORE Index to understand shifts in attitudes and perceptions among Liberians. |
 | A partnership between Liberia’s institutions and civil societyWe are working with seven partner organizations to improve collaboration between civil society and the government of Liberia. |