"The fragile peace process begun in 2003 in Liberia is under threat. The lack of action by western governments to address the issues in the short term could lead to serious implications for long-term peace, undermine significant investment in stability and leave already vulnerable populations in a hopeless situation."
At long last, the world is finally doing something about the disastrous situation in Cote d'Ivoire -- or at least the French (and the UN) are. Western governments have relegated Cote d'Ivoire issues to gutless regional unions, stranding the country's people in a state of horror and leaving regional specialists gravely concerned that fighting could destroy the relative peace in Liberia and re-activate the disarmed combatants there. In the last 2 months, it is reported that over 100,000 Ivorian refugees have fled into ever-fragile Liberia while, as reported by the New York Times, Liberian mercenaries have been re-arming in Cote d'Ivoire.
Let's be clear: Cote d'Ivoire, once the most prosperous and stable of countries in West Africa, is a tragedy worthy of foreign involvement. What few seem to realize is that the real tinderbox is being set in Liberia -- recovering communities are being over-whelmed and ex-combatants are being re-activated.
Nowhere embodies the fragility of Liberia more than the town of Karnplay. A deeply traumatized city near the border of Cote d'Ivoire, the people of Karnplay suffered brutally from 1980 to 2003. Over three-quarters of the women in Liberia have been the victims of gender based violence, entire age brackets of young men served as child soldiers and the agricultural sector was decimated.
However, in the past decade the population of Karnplay has made tremendous strides in recovery. In my time in the country I witnessed a women's group burgeon from 20 to 500 people, a community rally to build a women's center, double the size of a community clinic with their own contributions and ethnic divisions heal. The ex-combatants were disarmed, trained in skills such as tailoring and assimilated into the community. The agricultural sector was returning with fields being sewn and harvests realized. The progress was palpable when you visited Karnplay.
Unfortunately the town is now reliving the nightmare of war as it struggles to provide shelter and food to thousands of refugees fleeing the devastating violence across the border in Cote d'Ivoire. Peace will not last--resources are limited in Karnplay, ex-combatants are being tempted into picking up arms, and ethnic land issues have yet to be addressed.
Karnplay is in play.
The tentative peace that has been held over the last few years is on the brink unless Western Governments act now to shore up the borders, provide refugees safe haven, re-invigorate ex-combatant rehabilitation programs and ensure locale Liberians that their resources and progress are valued by the West. The investments in Liberian Peace are being undermined due to the blind eye strategy on the Cote d'Ivoire issues. Let us hope that starting today the West is recognizing it cannot tolerate civil war in Cote d'Ivoire and must double down its efforts to ensure continued peace in Liberia. The women & children of Karnplay have demonstrated that they will invest in their futures. Now is the time for the rest of us to show them it has worth the struggle.