United Nations peacekeepers leave Liberia after 15 years
Today, UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) finally concluded a 15-year mission in the one-time war-torn country, describing its operations as a success.
The UN said the peacekeepers were departing a “stable and grateful Liberia” as
peacekeeping mission in the country formally ceased operations on
Friday after aiding Liberia’s transition from ravaging civil war to a
hopeful era of peace.
The conclusion of the 15-year operation follows a landmark election
that resulted in the country’s first transfer of power from one elected
president to another in 70 years. The newly elected President, George
Weah, spoke for many Liberians as he thanked the UN for helping to make
that possible.
“In our darkest days, the UN stood with us,” Weah said in
his inaugural address in January. Weah, a former football star, won the
presidency in a runoff election in December, succeeding Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf, who had served since 2006. Speaking at an event
recently in Monrovia to mark the completion of the peacekeeping mission,
Weah pledged that the good work of the UN would not be forgotten. “We will not fight again, we promise you,” the new president said.
Liberia, the first independent country in Africa, enjoyed nearly a
century and a half of stability before falling into chaos, enduring two
devastating civil wars between 1989 and 2003. By some reports, more
than 250,000 Liberians were killed and nearly a third of the population
was uprooted while 80 per cent of Liberian women and girls suffered
conflict-related sexual violence. The Security Council established the
peacekeeping mission for Liberia in October 2003, as violence lingered
even after warring factions agreed to a cease-fire and a plan for
political rebuilding. As peacekeepers first arrived, “the entire
country was in turmoil,” Lt.-Gen. Daniel Opande, the pioneer Commander
of UN forces in Liberia, said, adding: “People were moving from place to
place, looking for safety or for food”.
A newly secure environment enabled more than a million refugees and
internally displaced persons to return to their homes. The Government
established its authority throughout the country and by now has
successfully held three presidential elections. According to the UN
Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Nigerian troops were the
military backbone of (UNMIL), from 2003 to 2018 while about 20,000
Nigerians served in Liberia, with more than 1,500 women. However, their
service did not come without sacrifice as 200 peacekeepers lost their
lives due to illness, accidents or other causes while serving in
Liberia. With peace elusive in many regions where UN forces have been
deployed for years, the auspicious conclusion of the Liberia mission
represents a success for UN peacekeeping, which has 110,000 men and
women deployed in 15 operations worldwide. UN Deputy Secretary-General,
Ms Amina Mohammed, noted during her visit to Liberia recently that a
generation ago, Liberia was in “free-fall”. According to her, “the
closure of UNMIL marks the transition of all three countries to peace
and democracy.”
In a sobering statement to the Security Council in New York, UN
Secretary-General António Guterres praised the successes of peacekeeping
in West Africa. The UN chief, however, highlighted the “serious
challenges” that confront ongoing deployments in several other African
countries and called for advances in military equipment and preparedness
on the limits and roles of UN peacekeepers. “Put simply, peace
operations cannot succeed if they are deployed instead of a political
solution, rather than in support of one,” he said. In Liberia, a
broadly shared commitment to a new, democratic political order was an
essential key to progress.
The 2017 presidential election, which led to the victory of Weah, was
a collective success for all Liberians, said Farid Zarif, the former
Afghan diplomat who has served as the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative and head of UNMIL for nearly three years. “It was a
culmination of all the hard work that was done in post-conflict Liberia –
on the part of the people of Liberia, the political leaders, the media,
the civil society organisations,” Zarif said. One of UNMIL’s core
mandates was to help the Liberia National Police build its capacity to
take over security responsibilities.
In July 2016, the UN handed over all security tasks to the Liberian
authorities – a benchmark on the path to the March 2018 full withdrawal
of the mission. Bintou Keïta, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Operations, saw first-hand the results of the years of
mentoring, training, and capacity-building. She said during a recent
visit to Liberia: “One proof that it worked is that there was no such
huge violence during the preparations for the election.”
With stability restored and UNMIL planning to exit, the mission
partnered with local organisations on development projects that could
improve the lives of the Liberian people. A series of “quick impact”
projects were carried out across the country, including sustainable
farming, agriculture, baking collectives, recycling, climate action, and
urban development. Yacoub El Hillo, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in
Liberia, said that the projects are an example of ongoing UN support
for sustainable peace and development. “It is true that UNMIL is
closing, but through projects like these, new openings are being made
possible for Liberians to go further,” said El Hillo, who will stay on
as the UN Resident Coordinator, working with numerous UN agencies whose
development work in Liberia will carry on.
Despite all of its achievements, Liberia still remains fragile on
many fronts, noted Special Representative Zarif adding “We should not
just presume that everything is fine and leave the country without any
assistance.” “Liberia is going to continue to require the solidarity,
the support, and help of the international community for the long haul
but they have already started demonstrating that they are the ones who
are responsible for the future of their country.”
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