18 March 2011: Liberia urgently needs police reform plan as withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces approaches, says SFCG and SIPRI

Reforming Liberia’s security sector has been a crucial challenge to meeting post-war security needs. Although the Liberian Government strongly supports security sector reform, the Liberian National Police have been dependent on the United Nations Mission in Liberia to bankroll and supervise its reform efforts as well as to provide necessary logistical capacity.

The report entitled ‘Security sector reform in Liberia: a case of the Liberian national police and its capacity to respond to internal threat’ critically examines the nature of and the gaps in the ongoing police reform. The authors provide concrete recommendations to address Liberia’s internal security threats as UN forces are scheduled to leave the country after the Presidential elections in late autumn 2011.

Meaningful police reform in Liberia urgently demands that a host of issues be addressed, among the most pressing are adequate budgets, competent leadership, effective recruitment strategies and greater accountability. The study is informed by a wide range of community perspectives, including the voices of youth, women and residents of the country side.

This case study will be launched today at the Monrovia City Hall Ball Room.

Download an executive summary of the report here, check out the SFCG Liberia website and contact Oscar Bloh at SFCG for further information.

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Founded in 1982, SFCG works to transform the way the world deals with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving. It works with local partners to find culturally appropriate means to strengthen societies' capacity to deal with conflicts constructively: to understand the differences and act on the commonalities