Waging Peace: Liberia

Go to: Mediating Conflict | Monitoring Elections | Carter Center Access to Justice in Liberia Project

The Carter Center's interest in Liberia began in 1991, when all sides of the country's civil war invited the Center to assist in the peace process. President Carter made numerous trips to the region, meeting with interim government and faction leaders. Since then, the Center has undertaken a number of projects in human rights, capacity building for nongovernmental organizations, and supporting electoral processes.

Mediating Conflict

The Carter Center has worked to foster peace and democracy in Liberia since March 1991. The Center's Monrovia office opened in 1992, closed during full-scale fighting in 1996, and reopened to observe the 1997 presidential election. During this time, President Carter and Conflict Resolution Program staff worked to support regional mediators to reach various peace agreements, the final one of which led to the special elections of 1997. At the same time, working with Liberian partners and the Institute for Multitrack Diplomacy, the Center also established LIPCORE, a group of potential peacemakers representing many different warring factions.

In 1998, the Center began a multifaceted democracy and governance program that:

1. Established an independent printing press, owned and operated cooperatively by Liberia's media houses under the nonprofit corporation, Free Press Inc.;
2. Developed training programs for Liberian journalists;
3. Strengthened and expanded the Justice and Peace Commission's rural offices to train human rights monitors and paralegals;
4. Provided financial and technical support for Liberian human rights nongovernmental
   organizations; and
5. Monitored the political and human rights situation in Liberia.

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Monitoring Elections

2011 Elections
In September 2011, The Carter Center deployed teams of long-term observers to launch an international election observation mission for Liberia's presidential and legislative elections on Oct. 11, 2011.

For the period surrounding election day, The Carter Center partnered with the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) to deploy an integrated mission of 55 observers from 25 countries. Carter Center-EISA observers visited 282 polling places in 15 counties to assess the voting and counting processes.  The Carter Center team was led by General Dr. Yakubu Gowon, former head of state of Nigeria, along with Dr. John Stremlau, Carter Center vice president for peace programs. The Oct. 11, 2011, presidential and legislative elections mark an important test for Liberia's transition from civil war to democratic, constitutional government.  Despite considerable challenges, Carter Center observers reported that the voting process was peaceful, orderly, and remarkably transparent. Read full text >

Election Reports

View Carter Center election reports for Liberia >