Liberia

Water Security and Conflict Prevention Summit

Tue, 09/10/2013 - 08:30

Tue, 09/10/2013 - 14:00

On September 10, 2013, U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), and the U.S. Water Partnership (USWP) hosted a summit on the growing concerns in water security and the risks for increased conflict.

Read the event coverage, USIP Hosts International Gathering on Water Security and Conflict Prevention

View the conference agenda here

Water is an undeniable, un-substitutable, and powerful factor in everyone’s life, from sustaining individual lives to defining both economic and social policies and practices. As populations and demand expand while supplies decline, access to water will become increasingly difficult, raising the prospects for conflict over this precious resource. By 2025, experts estimated that 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions of absolute water scarcity.

Experts:

Jim Marshall

Issue Areas:

Conflict Analysis and Prevention

Economics

Science and Technology

Type of Event or Course:

Countries:

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Liberia

Côte d'Ivoire

Mali

Keeping Elections Peaceful

Wed, 01/25/2017 - 11:00

Wed, 01/25/2017 - 12:00

Subtitle:

A Twitter Conversation on Effective Election Violence Prevention and Applied Research

Kenya, Liberia, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are scheduled to hold national elections in the next 24 months, and each has suffered various levels of election-related violence in the past. For election officials and civil society working towards peaceful elections in such countries, what are the most proven ways to prevent violence? The U.S. Institute of Peace will hold an online conversation via Twitter to discuss past and upcoming elections at risk of violence. Participants will include the contributing authors of Electing Peace, a recent research volume that examines the effectiveness of common practices to prevent election violence.

Experts:

Jonas Claes

Do efforts to organize free and fair elections and programs to prevent election violence serve the same purpose? How could policymakers and practitioners prevent election violence more effectively? What do we know about what works, and what does not? USIP staff will discuss these questions, and the findings of recent research, with election practitioners and election experts from around the world. The conversation precedes the public launch, in March, of Electing Peace, which can be ordered at the USIP bookstore.

Type of Event or Course:

Countries:

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Issue Areas:

Rule of Law

Women in Nonviolent Movements

Women’s meaningful involvement in civil resistance movements has shown to be a game changer. Examining movements in Argentina, Chile, Egypt, Liberia, the Palestinian territories, Poland, Syria, and the United States, this report advocates for the full engagement of women and their networks in nonviolent movements for a simple and compelling reason—because greater female inclusion leads to more sustainable peace.

Marie A. Principe

Summary

Nonviolent movements are nearly twice as successful as violent ones in achieving their objectives.
Mass participation is part of what makes nonviolent movements so successful, particularly—and importantly—when women are included.
Women have historically been denied full access to political spaces usually reserved for, or dominated by, men.
All over the world, women have persisted in the face of inequalities to assume roles as strategists, organizers, and active participants in various nonviolent campaigns and movements.

Thu, 12/29/2016 - 13:59

Issue Areas:

Countries:

Israel and the Palestinian Territories

Key Links:

Partners (HTML):

Featured (HTML):

Tension Rising Ahead of Kenya, Liberia 2017 Elections

When elections are held in fragile democracies with a history of violence, international officials generally pay close attention. During his visit to Nairobi on Aug. 22, U.S.

Liberia’s President Thanks U.S. for Helping Control Ebola Epidemic

In August, West Africa’s outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus exploded into Liberia’s capital, filling its hospitals beyond capacity and killing many of the city’s already-too-few doctors and nurses. With her government struggling and Liberians dying in Monrovia’s streets, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf placed urgent calls to both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, “who I awakened at night,” she recalled today.

USIP Staff

“Senator Coons, do you remember those phone calls?” Sirleaf asked Senator Chris Coons of Delaware in a speech on Capitol Hill. She recited names of senators and representatives whom she awoke to plead for emergency help.

Nancy Lindborg

Center for the Middle East and Africa

Thu, 02/26/2015 - 22:19

Type of Article:

News Feature

Countries:

Liberia

Public Address by President Sirleaf of Liberia

Thu, 02/26/2015 - 13:30

Thu, 02/26/2015 - 14:15

On February 26, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, spoke at an event hosted by U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and the U.S. Institute of Peace in Hart Senate Office Building. The speech was during her first trip to Washington since Liberia’s declaration of a state of emergency over the Ebola outbreak last July.

Read the event coverage, Liberia’s President Thanks U.S. for Helping Control Ebola Epidemic

Experts:

Nancy Lindborg

Center for the Middle East and Africa

President Sirleaf offered her thanks to the American people for their support during the Ebola crisis, to Congress for authorizing funding to help stop the outbreak, to the Administration for its deployment to the region, and to aid organizations for going to the region to care for those infected. The President also discussed the need for sustained investment in the region’s public health infrastructure in order to prevent future outbreaks.

Countries:

Liberia

Type of Event or Course:

Events

Is Ebola the New Powder Keg?

West Africa may finally be on the road to recovery. But the worst of the Ebola crisis may be yet to come.

In the war on Ebola, the tide may finally be turning. Its incidence continues to Ebola free, and schools in Sierra Leone, which closed as the epidemic spread rapidly, are finally reopening.

Thomas Scherer

Center for the Middle East and Africa

Thomas Leo Scherer

Mon, 02/02/2015 - 11:05

Issue Areas:

Conflict Analysis and Prevention

Type of Article:

Peace Channel

Countries:

Guinea

Liberia

The Future of USG Advising Missions

Thu, 01/15/2015 - 09:00

Thu, 01/15/2015 - 11:30

From Afghanistan to Iraq, Ukraine to Honduras, advising is a key U.S. strategy to address weak government capacity in sectors including finance, policing, education, agriculture, transportation, justice, and many others. Yet advising missions too often are hindered by challenges common across all U.S. government agencies. Please join us for a policy-level discussion about mission mandates for long-term, locally-owned solutions, the first in a series of conversations on advising as a means to provide foreign assistance and capacity building to partner countries.

9:00 | Welcome
Ambassador William B. Taylor
Acting President, United States Institute of Peace

9:10 | Keynote Address
What is the strategic value of advising programs and what is the role of policy in ensuring their effectiveness?
James Schear
Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations

9:25 | Panel Discussion (I): How can USG advising missions best contribute to host nation capacity?
Discussant: Nadia Gerspacher, Director, Security Sector Education, United States Institute of Peace
Respondents: representatives of:

Office of Technical Assistance, US Department of the Treasury
International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), US Department of Justice
Bureau of Counterterrorism, US Department of State
Center for Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG Center), US Agency for International Development (USAID)
Ministry of Defense Advisors (MoDA) Program, OSD Policy

10:15 | BREAK

10:30 | Panel Discussion (II): What changes are needed to maximize the sustainability of USG advising missions?
Discussant: Nadia Gerspacher, Director, Security Sector Education, United States Institute of Peace
Respondents: representatives of:

International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), US Department of Justice
Center for Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG Center), US Agency for International Development (USAID)
Ministry of Defense Advisors (MoDA) Program, Defense Security Cooperation Agency

11:15 | Summary, conclusions, and next steps

Advising is increasingly understood to be the prevalent instrument for building long-term peace and stability. As U.S. government agencies deploy advisors to help build institutions and solve problems, mission plans become the foundation for effective capacity building.

Type of Event or Course:

Issue Areas:

Countries:

Good Governance After Conflict: Guiding Principles

This course is designed to provide an introduction to some of the key considerations of establishing good governance after conflict. Through conceptual presentations and case study exercises, participants will experience an interactive approach to learning about the challenges confronting international and local actors when establishing or re-establishing good governance.

Alan Kuperman

Alan

Kuperman

Former Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow

Alan Kuperman is a Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow.

Please submit all media inquiries to interviews@usip.org or call 202.429.3869.

For all other inquiries, please call 202.457.1700.

Note: This is an archived profile of a former U.S. Institute of Peace expert. The information is current as of the dates of tenure.

Issue Areas:

Conflict Analysis and Prevention

Role:

Countries:

Articles & Analysis

Supporters of Raila Odinga, Kenya's prime minister and a presidential candidate, stage a protest outside the Supreme Court in Nairobi, Kenya, March 30, 2013. The court announced Saturday that the March presidential election results are valid and that Uhuru Kenyatta has won.

Tension Rising Ahead of Kenya, Liberia 2017 Elections

With elections coming up next year in Liberia and Kenya, the time for early and sustained efforts to prevent clashes is now. Forthcoming USIP research shows that domestic institutions hold the key...

By:

Jonas Claes and Scofield Muliru

Liberia’s President Thanks U.S. for Helping Control Ebola Epidemic

By:

USIP Staff

Is Ebola the New Powder Keg?

West Africa may finally be on the road to recovery. But the worst of the Ebola crisis may be yet to come.

By:

Thomas Scherer

Videos & Webcasts

Public Address by President Sirleaf of Liberia

On February 26, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, spoke at an event hosted by U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and the U.S. Institute of Peace in Hart Senate Office...

Water Security and Conflict Prevention Summit

On September 10, 2013, U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), and the U.S. Water Partnership (USWP) hosted a summit on the growing concerns in water...

Women Leading Change in Transitioning Societies

The U.S. Institute of Peace, in collaboration with Vital Voices Global Partnership and the Royal Norwegian Embassy, explored the kinds of leadership that are most effective in societies undergoing...

Learn More

Online Courses

Good Governance After Conflict: Guiding Principles

Debra Liang-Fenton

The aim of this course is for participants to understand the challenges and opportunities in achieving good governance within the complex context of a transition environment. Ultimately, this course will help enable participants to develop and implement effective strategies for building good governance in conflict-to-peace transitions.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to some of the key considerations of establishing good governance after conflict.

Publications

Women in Nonviolent Movements

By:

Marie A. Principe

Health in Post-Conflict and Fragile States

By:

Rohini Jonnalagadda Haar and Leonard S. Rubenstein

Civilian health, health care workers, and health facilities disproportionately suffer in countries experiencing severe instability, but global health donors have yet to make developing health systems...