Liberia Media Project

According to International Alert, given the real and perceived inequalities between those living in Liberia's capital city and those in rural areas, it is vital that communication be enhanced. The Liberia Media Project attempts to enable groups who feel marginalised and alienated to articulate their views, needs, and rights through the media rather than resorting to violence. Ensuring that journalists are trained in responsible reporting supports the project's objective of improving access to impartial and balanced information in the eight most conflict-affected counties of Liberia so that people there understand the ever-changing political situation and feel empowered to engage with processes originating in the capital, Monrovia.

The project's activities and communication strategies include:

• 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 youth, including ex-combatants, with leadership skills in peace building;
• improving the existing communication channels within the community; and
• maintaining and giving social prominence to peace award.

Implemented in Grand Gedeh, Maryland, River Gee, and Grand Kru counties and later in Lofa, Nimba, Bong, and Gbarpolu counties, the project intended to establish community radio stations in each. The community radio stations are meant to spread messages of peace and good will and to provide civic education that would assist in determining how to work along with the new government to preserve the peace.

According to the organisers, the Liberia Media Project/International Alert provides all electronic gadgetry and optional equipment, all technical services related to the installation of the stations, and the appropriate start-up training and services to turn over ownership of the stations to the communities, who then manage the programmes through a multi-stakeholder Board of Trustees.

Part of the strategy includes organising peace festivals in rural areas as a way of celebrating the cultural traditions of the region and communicating messages about peace-building and reconciliation. Organisers believe that the combination of traditional and contemporary communication mechanisms enables media to represent local people, who in turn feel more connected to their society and are more likely to resolve differences peacefully.

The project hosted a three-day Traditional Media Workshop in Bopolu, Gbarpolu county. The workshop involved traditional communicators, traditional storytellers, language announcers, dramatists, and community radio announcers from the northern and central counties of Lofa, Nimba, Bong, and Gbarpolu. Participants heard lectures on how to make peace concepts an integral part of their daily work, 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 Liberia Media Project is part of a wider strategy to build sustainable peace in Liberia and the sub-region through communicating messages about peace building and reconciliation. The organsiers believe that across the sub-region, communication and improved access to information can have a powerful effect on conflicts that spill across borders and threaten areas of stability. The project has sought to provide an opportunity for Liberians to have a direct role in helping to restore peace in their country. Participation in town meetings, symposia, and workshops are meant to facilitate Liberians' participation in the peace process. Additional activities like the peace festival and the encounter of communicators and communities are also designed to increase the people's role in the process.

Conflict.