The diverse projects we work on are all based on the idea that inclusive dialogue and respect are critical for building trust and sustainable peace. In all our projects we aim at levelling the playing field, such that it reflects our diverse Liberian society. In doing so we build trust and legitimacy and strengthen social networks across social and political divides – all of which bring us closer to sustainable peace in Liberia and the region. Below you’ll find a selection illustrating our work.
Increasing Citizens’ Participation in Budget Cycle Processes
In 2021 Platform for Dialogue and Peace (P4DP) entered a 6-months agreement with the None-State Actors Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (NSA-MoFDP) to work in Senjeh District, Bomi County on increasing citizens’ participation in the National Budget Cycle processes. Specifically, the agreement is to recruit, train and work with 5 local Community-based Organizations from Senjeh District, Bomi County to establish and operate locally-based budget cycle platform that will provide continuous information, support the conduct of analysis of budgetary allocations to the County, District and specific groups, as well as carry out the needed advocacy with both local and national leaders..
Addressing Health and Development Drivers Through Cross-Border Youth Engagement
P4DP is working with the University of St. Andrews in the implementation of a cross-border dialogue and engagement to promote security, social cohesion, and well-being of residents in the Mano River Region. The project is aimed at addressing Health and Development Drivers through Cross-Border Youth Engagement: Social Cohesion, sustainability, and Well-Being in the Mano River Basin.
Motorcycling as Peacebuilding
Ex-combatant and conflict-affected youth make up the vast majority of Liberia’s 175,000 motorcycle taxi drivers. Motorcycling emerged after Liberia’s civil war as a critical economic sector. Through motorcycling, young riders establish themselves as active peacebuilding subjects, enacting their own ideas to counter the insecurity and marginalisation of post-war life. This ongoing, multi-year project by Jaremey McMullin (St. Andrews University) started in 2018 and draws from qualitative interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. P4DP has been the project’s primary Liberian partner through successive phases, and has facilitated pre-project scoping with Liberian youth and design and implementation of all impact generation activities.
Fostering National Reconciliation and Conflict Management
Joint UNOPS / Interpeace / P4DP program where P4DP managed a number of local CSOs (LDI, WANEP, IPC, PBRC, KAICT, FIND, WONGOSOL, IRCL). This intervention aimed to contribute to increasing positive social and political cohesion by creating better capacities in state and non-state actors to deal with conflict through collaborative action. The project focused on the development of spaces for inter-sectoral dialogue and action-oriented collaboration, and the instilment of abilities that, in society as well as in formal political structures, can strengthen the capacity to assess challenges, address tensions and resolve conflicts in non-violent ways. Find a more detailed description here.
Framework for Assessing Resilience (FAR)
P4DP worked alongside Interpeace as part of the FAR program to document the strengths that Liberians possess. This is a key step towards understanding the strategies that exist within Liberian society to resolve conflicts peacefully. P4DP undertook eight months of intensive field research and engaged over 1,100 Liberians from all 15 counties and across all sectors of society. The findings were documented in a Country Note that served as the basis for the National Working Group, whose mandate was to develop strategies and policy recommendations to strengthen resilience by building upon factors identified in the consultation phase.
Mobile4Women
The Mobile4Women project intended to broaden the capacities of the beneficiary organisations in order to enhance participation in advocacy for the promotion of gender-sensitive human rights in Grand Bassa and Montserrado. The project was such a success, that participants described the training component as a vital platform that provided an opportunity to build their capacities on critical issues previously considered as ‘taboo’.
RULLAR
The “Rule by Law and Live by Rules’ (RULLAR) project was funded under UNDP‘s Joint Rule of Law Program by Sweden and Ireland. It aimed at increasing legal literacy, education and raising awareness on access to justice and security services amongst law enforcement personnel and local communities in Bomi, Grand Cape Mount and Montserrado Counties. In addition, ‘RULLAR’ seeks to help find ways to address the issues of lawlessness and violence that have permeated the Liberian society mainly perpetrated by young people.
Access to Justice
P4DP Conducted the final evaluation of the Carter Center Access to Justice Program in Liberia. Hundreds of household surveys, several focus group discussions and key informant interviews were held to contribute to the production of the final evaluation report. Find more info here.
NRM Consortium
P4DP led a USAID funded CSO Consortium on Natural Resource Management (NRM). The Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative (LAVI) was a five-year USAID funded project administered by DAI Global, LLC to strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships to advocate for and monitor policy and accountability reforms in Liberia.
Traditional Healers in Humanitarian Crises
With financial support from Wellcome Trust and UK Aid, P4DP collaborated with R2HC for a study that explored the extent to which local populations relied on traditional healers. The study investigated how traditional healers perceived the Ebola virus disease (EVD) as well as their capacities to cope with it. The study also considered how this group of health providers could help strengthen the national health services in potential future outbreaks. It provided a nuanced understanding of alternative medicine and its public health potential.
Ethnic Reconciliation in Nimba County to Support Government of Liberia and the UN
Late in 2007 Interpeace received a request by the Liberian government through the Ministry of Internal Affairs and from the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to implement an emergency intervention, in support of their efforts to prevent the escalation of inter-ethnic tensions in Nimba County. A 6-month process was developed to facilitate the emergence of a consensus-based strategy for sustained and continued reconciliation in the County. The proposal was approved in December and implementation began on 1 February.
Platform for Dialogue & Peace 