USAID/OTI Liberia Field Report
September 2005
Program Description
The Liberia Transition Initiative (LTI) advances prospects for an inclusive, peaceful, political transition in Liberia in the context of the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Accord. By increasing public understanding of key political transition issues, and promoting participatory community reintegration and peaceful resolution of conflict, LTI is helping to build the momentum for peace in Liberia through:
- Running the Youth Education for Life Skills (YES) program, a community-focused reintegration activity with the goal of enhancing peace through non-formal education. YES helps youths, one of the largest and most war-affected populations of Liberia, become productive members of their communities.
- Linking the YES program with small grants through a participatory process that reinforces community cohesion, assists in reconstruction and rural development, and facilitates youth leadership development.
- Awarding small grants to national organizations in the fields of justice, media, conflict management, good governance, and human rights.
- Giving technical assistance to the Ministry of Education and USAID/Liberia’s Accelerated Learning Program.
Creative Associates International Inc. implements the LTI program of small grants and technical assistance, while Mercy Corps and a consortium of World Vision, Action Aid and Search for Common Ground implement the YES program.
Country Situation
Elections – In two major decisions, the Supreme Court ruled against the National Elections Commission (NEC) in cases with significant implications for the electoral process and timetable. The first case will permit Liberians to elect two senators per county instead of one as stipulated in Electoral Reform Law. Sending the case back to the lower court, the Supreme Court called for sufficient voter education to be conducted so that voters would be informed of the change. This ruling came down after the ballots had been printed and voter education largely completed. The ballots subsequently were modified to reflect the ruling.
In the second case, independent candidates whose applications had been rejected by the NEC prevailed. However, following meetings with the Economic Community of West African States, the appellants withdrew their candidacies.
Anti-corruption – A number of high-ranking officials at the Bureau of Maritime Affairs and the National Social Security Corporation were arrested and indicted for financial malfeasance. The arrests are the first such action by Liberia’s transitional government, which has come under increasing criticism from citizens and international partners for widespread corruption.
Fiscal accountability – On Sept. 8, the chairman of Liberia’s transitional government, Gyude Bryant, and representatives of the International Contact Group of donors signed the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Plan (GEMAP). The international partners developed this plan in close consultation with the Liberian government and financial experts at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They believe that the GEMAP provides a comprehensive framework to ensure sound economic governance in Liberia. The signing of the GEMAP is considered a pre-condition for continued donor support.
USAID/OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
As a short-term remedy for the lack of formal education and vocational training among war-affected youths, the Youth Education for Life Skills (YES) program’s basic-skills interventions have focused on building up participants’ personal social competence. As youths learn self-awareness, hygiene, environmental care, leadership, decision-making, literacy, and how to search for employment, they are better positioned to make critical decisions that affect them, their families and their communities. Foundational life skills include the ability to make decisions about what further education or training to pursue, what forms of work to enter into, and how to participate in local political processes. By the end of September, YES training continued in 301 communities in 10 of the 15 counties of Liberia.
In support of the Ministry of Education Accelerated Learning Program (ALP), the Liberia Transition Initiative conducted a mid-project workshop for all ALP partners, held coordination meetings for USAID and parochial school ALP partners, and trained an additional 54 teachers. The Liberia Transition Initiative also completed a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation database for tracking ALP achievements and activities. Further, by the close of the reporting period, 12 of 15 parochial schools offering accelerated learning had been renovated with Liberia Transition Initiative funding.
B. Grant Activity Summary
In collaboration with YES implementing partners and community members offering participatory feedback, the Liberia Transition Initiative (LTI) issued 36 Community Impact grants in YES communities to enhance the reintegration process and add value to the YES learning process. Linking grants to YES communities that have agreed to work together to prioritize their development needs is a core activity of LTI. YES grants in September continued to support small-scale community infrastructure construction such as market halls, latrines, wells and guesthouses. Grants also supported a skills training program in animal husbandry and poultry production, a reflection of the critical need for livelihoods.
| Civil Society Org. Support |
|
$ 249,403 |
|
15 |
| Community Impact Activities |
$217,169 |
$ 2,676,671 |
36 |
235 |
| Conflict Management |
|
$ 657,422 |
|
28 |
| Election Processes |
|
$ 367,564 |
|
15 |
| Justice/Human Right |
|
$ 409,552 |
|
18 |
| Media |
|
$ 369,267
| |
14 |
| Good Governance |
|
$ 1,060,752
| |
38 |
| Youth Training / Reintegration |
|
$ 16,642
| |
2 |
| Totals |
$217,169 |
$5,807,273
| 36 |
365 |
C. Indicator of Success
Local Liberia Transition Initiative partners implementing the Seeds of Peace peer youth- voter education in urban centers – Monrovia, Kakata, Tubmanburg, Gbarnga, Ganta and Gbarnga – conducted outreach with approximately 50,808 young people. Elections officials in a number of cities reported a reduction in verbal skirmishes between young people from rival political parties. Sound-bite messages produced by “Seeds” partners are being used by youths with a resultant reduction in tension between party supporters. For example, young people who have received information from “Seeds” volunteers respond that “my vote is my secret” rather than argue the merits of their candidates.
D. Program Appraisal
Efforts continue to integrate Liberia Transition Initiative’s youth programming into the post-political-transition strategy of USAID/Liberia. Additionally, the Office of Transition Initiatives and the Ministry of Youth and Sports are engaged in discussions about how to engage the post-transition government to support youth programs that have been funded by OTI.
The pace of community contributions to programs is slow, reflecting the aftermath of large-scale humanitarian assistance in Liberia, where beneficiaries were not required to contribute to community projects initiated by “outsiders.” Further, the inter-generational participatory-project identification process that is a hallmark of the Youth Education for Life Skills (YES) program is a novel concept.
As a result of a determination that the number of youths in some areas where YES planned to work in the second cycle of training is small relative to the resource requirement to deliver the program, OTI and implementing-partner consortium WAS (World Vision, Action Aid and Search for Common Ground) have agreed to shift the geographic focus to peri-urban areas closer to current areas of operations. Further, it is envisioned that the training will be modified and made similar to the abbreviated Community Youth Peace Education Program (CYPEP). This programmatic shift would provide easier access for the consortium and will enable OTI to compare the impact of YES and CYPEP under similar conditions. To date, CYPEP has only been conducted in urban areas. With the envisioned shift, YES and CYPEP training would be delivered in similar communities. Mercy Corps, the other YES implementing partner, will continue with the delivery of the five-month YES training in most of its rural communities in cycle two.
The Ministry of Education, parochial schools and nongovernmental organizations continue to request teacher training as the demand for accelerated learning increases nationwide. To date, the Liberia Transition Initiative has provided training for approximately 570 teachers, and 49 Master Trainers are equipped to conduct Accelerated Learning Program teacher training. The ability of LTI, USAID and the Ministry of Education to expand accelerated learning programs is hampered by the poor quality of teachers generally, the limited capacity of the ministry, low salaries, a severe lack of basic resources, poor communication and outreach with key stakeholders, and an acute shortage of teaching materials.
NEXT STEPS/IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
Liberia Transition Initiative plans to:
- Develop with implementing partners follow-up activities for the “Seeds of Peace” program during the period between the October election and the runoff.
- Incorporate lessons learned from implementing-partner experience into the YES curriculum.
- Conduct a second round of training for Action Aid and World Vision’s YES Learning Facilitators.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington: John Gattorn, Program Manager, 202-712-4168, jgattorn@usaid.gov
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