Author: Benjamin de Carvalho / Political Geography: Liberia

Author:: Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Relations and Development
Institution:: Central and East European International Studies Association
Abstract:: Since the end of the conflict in Liberia, one of the main priorities of the UN Mission (UNMIL), UN agencies, NGOs and INGOs has been to address the very high level of sexual violence against women and children, often known through the 'SGBV' acronym (Sexual and Gender-Based Violence).This focus has led to a number of initiatives from the international community, including a joint UN and Government of Liberia national strategy on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (Government of Liberia 2009); the creation of a ministry for gender issues; and a number of campaigns aimed at engendering awareness of the problem.
Topic:: Security and United Nations
Political Geography:: Liberia

Author:: Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The paper takes as its starting point the difficulties encountered in implementing policies aimed at fostering local and national ownership in peacekeeping activities. Especially important in this respect are training programmes aimed at sensitizing people working in peacekeeping operations to the inherent difficulties of local ownership in post-conflict environments. The account offered here is an ethnography of local ownership in a specific context. Through such accounts, we argue, training programmes can go beyond emphasizing the difficulties relating to local ownership, and instead emphasize how these can be solved in different contexts, on a case-bycase basis. By offering an ethnographical account of practices of local ownership in Liberian ministries, problematizing the role played by international embedded experts, we argue that where you stand may actually depend on where you sit. In a difficult post-conflict environment, local ownership in the initial phases may not be possible without borrowing capacity from the outside. In the end, the important question may be not who does the work, but whose perspectives underlie the policies that are adopted and implemented.
Topic:: Climate Change and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: Liberia

Author:: Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: Rule of law reforms in Liberia over the past five years serve as a clear example of how the international community has failed on this point, as the country's own practices have been generally neglected in the process. Characteristically, there is little updated information on the customary law and traditional practices of Liberia. In investigating how the international community addresses SGBV in Liberia, we found within the liberal peacekeeping/building paradigm few analytical tools that could be used to gain a solid understanding of the host country 'from below'. This area of society remains a professional blind-spot and represents a gap in the efforts of the international peacekeeping/-building community to build a sustainable peace in the country.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Law, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: Liberia

Author:: Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:: 06-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The international response to SGBV in Liberia – in spite of having been touted as one of the great success stories in implementing UNSC resolution 1325 by the UN and the Liberian government – has so far at best been misguided.
Topic:: Crime, Gender Issues, and Law
Political Geography:: Africa, United Nations, and Liberia

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