This handbook describes the process of training community-based sociotherapy in four geographically and politically diverse areas where war had left deep scars. The training is aimed at developing... Show moreThis handbook describes the process of training community-based sociotherapy in four geographically and politically diverse areas where war had left deep scars. The training is aimed at developing three skills in targeted groups: the ability to facilitate sociotherapy groups in their own region, to recruit and train more sociotherapists and set up and maintain an appropriate sociotherapy organisation. Dialogue proved to be a suitable tool for arriving at the right training content and form. Dialogue brought about enthusiasm, but also caused confusion and uncertainty. Family-like feelings developed without the presence of a ‘strictly controlling father’. Playing games on a daily basis facilitated participants to give meaning to these experiences. A variety of inter-referring methods proved to be the route to a participatory process of increasing safety, trust, care, respect and having a say in collective affairs. These concepts were used as the subject of further conversation. Training in this group-oriented way at the same time brought about change in the sociotherapists themselves: in their perception of role definitions, in their expectations and thoughts on the meaning of values that always play a role in social change. Their regained dignity was thus, ultimately, the result of their own participation. Mutual trust and social assistance returned thousandfold and were perceived as reliable and sustainable. Show less
In the 1970s, as an enthusiastic young graduate in his twenties, the author left the Netherlands for the West-African country of Liberia. He lectured at the University of Liberia where his students... Show moreIn the 1970s, as an enthusiastic young graduate in his twenties, the author left the Netherlands for the West-African country of Liberia. He lectured at the University of Liberia where his students included future ministers. One later emerged as a feared warlord, while one of his colleagues even became the country's president. During his many years in Liberia, the author travelled to every corner of the country, visited rubber plantations and iron ore mines, and spoke to managers and workers. In the capital, Monrovia, he met political activists, journalists, ministers, civil servants and academics, from whom he learned much about the country: Africa's first independent republic, founded in 1847 by freed slaves from the United States of America. Show less
Als enthousiaste twintiger vertrekt de schrijver in de jaren zeventig van de vorige eeuw naar het West-Afrikaanse land Liberia. Hij gaat er les geven aan de Universiteit van Liberia. Onder zijn... Show moreAls enthousiaste twintiger vertrekt de schrijver in de jaren zeventig van de vorige eeuw naar het West-Afrikaanse land Liberia. Hij gaat er les geven aan de Universiteit van Liberia. Onder zijn studenten bevinden zich latere ministers; een van zijn studenten ontpopt zich als een gevreesde warlord. Een van zijn collega's wordt zelfs president. Tijdens zijn jarenlange verblijf in Liberia reist de schrijver naar alle uithoeken van het land, bezoekt er rubberplantages en ijzermijnen en spreekt met managers en arbeiders. In de hoofdstad Monrovia ontmoet hij politieke activisten, journalisten, ministers, ambtenaren en academici die hem veel over het land vertellen: Afrika's eerste onafhankelijke republiek, in 1847 gesticht door vrijgemaakte slaven uit de Verenigde Staten. Bijna veertig jaren later blikt hij in dit persoonlijke relaas terug op het land waarvan hij is gaan houden. In 2012 gaat hij terug en treft een land aan dat bezig is op te krabbelen na twee gruwelijke burgeroorlogen die naar schatting 250.000 mensen het leven kostten en een onbekend groot aantal gewonden en getraumatiseerden tot gevolg hadden. Hoe kan een land dat als een van de meest stabiele in Afrika gold zo afglijden naar chaos en anarchie? Wat ging er mis? De schrijver doet dit vanuit eigen waarnemingen uit de doeken. Hij gaat daarbij kritisch in op de rol van de huidige president van Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Afrika's eerste democratisch gekozen vrouwelijke president en in 2011 medewinnares van de Nobelprijs voor de Vrede. Show less
This report constitutes a synthesis of three case studies of intrastate conflicts in Africa. Research was conducted in the context of the Conflict Policy Research Project executed by the... Show moreThis report constitutes a synthesis of three case studies of intrastate conflicts in Africa. Research was conducted in the context of the Conflict Policy Research Project executed by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingendael' for the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conflicts concerned are the civil wars in Liberia, Rwanda and Sudan. The details of these conflicts and the policy interventions undertaken by the Netherlands and other actors vis-aI_-vis these countries can be found in the respective reports (M.V. van Baarsen: The Netherlands and Sudan: Dutch policies and interventions with respect to the Sudanese civil war; P. Douma: The Netherlands and Rwanda: a case study on Dutch foreign policies and interventions in the contemporary conflict history of Rwanda; K. van Walraven: The Netherlands and Liberia: Dutch policies and interventions with respect to the Liberian civil war). The present contribution presents the main conclusions and arguments of the three country studies. It briefly describes the issues, actors and dynamics of the intrastate conflicts in Sudan, Rwanda and Liberia and summarizes the political, humanitarian and post-conflict interventions undertaken by the Netherlands and other actors (Ecomog, United Nations, Inter-Governmental Authority for Development, IGAD) Show less
La guerre de 1989 … 1997 au Liberia a constitu‚ un observatoire des pratiques de violence, y compris dans le domaine de l'invisible. Certaines techniques utilis‚es par les guerriers, telles l... Show moreLa guerre de 1989 … 1997 au Liberia a constitu‚ un observatoire des pratiques de violence, y compris dans le domaine de l'invisible. Certaines techniques utilis‚es par les guerriers, telles l'utilisation d'amulettes ou les pratiques d'anthropophagie, ont ‚t‚ qualifi‚es par les Lib‚riens de "sorcellerie" (en anglais … la fois 'sorcery' et 'witchcraft'). Ce terme semble avoir chang‚ de sens au fil du XXŠme siŠcle. Cet article ‚tudie ces changements et montre comment la constitution d'un pouvoir oligarchique est all‚e de pair avec la red‚finition de certaines repr‚sentations religieuses. Notes, r‚f., r‚s. en fran‡ais et en anglais (p. 205) Show less
Although ECOWAS was never intended as a regional security structure and its official mandate lies primarily in the economic realm, ECOWAS has developed a high profile with regard to cooperation on... Show moreAlthough ECOWAS was never intended as a regional security structure and its official mandate lies primarily in the economic realm, ECOWAS has developed a high profile with regard to cooperation on political and security issues. This has come about primarily through the intervention, under ECOWAS auspices, in the Liberian civil war. Although this intervention was protracted and controversial and suffered numerous setbacks, the countries responsible managed to see it through. The result was that the intervention force Ecomog (ECOWAS Cease-fire Monitoring Group) stayed in Liberia and finally was able, in 1997, to put a peaceful end to the civil war by way of internationally supervised elections. This study analyses ECOWAS's intervention in the Liberian civil war, with an emphasis on its role as a multilateral, third party actor. The chapters deal successively with the institutions involved in the Liberian operation; the mandates concerned and the working methods employed by, or in the cadre of, ECOWAS; and the actual practice of the intervention. The final chapter extrapolates, from Ecomog's vicissitudes, certain key factors that conditioned its successes and failures Show less
This study analyses Dutch foreign policy towards Liberia during the civil war between 1990 and 1997 with the aim of identifying policy options for the improvement of the Dutch contribution to... Show moreThis study analyses Dutch foreign policy towards Liberia during the civil war between 1990 and 1997 with the aim of identifying policy options for the improvement of the Dutch contribution to international interventions in violent conflicts in Third World countries. An introductory chapter on sources and concepts is followed by a chapter on the background and causes of the civil war in Liberia. Ch. 3 deals with interventions by other external actors - the United States, the OAU and the United Nations, and Ecomog (ECOWAS Cease-Fire Monitoring Group). Ch. 4 focuses on the role of the Netherlands, paying attention to both project interventions and political and diplomatic initiatives. The Dutch policy is assessed and conclusions are presented in ch. 5. Show less
This article deals with the civil war which broke out in Liberia on 24 December 1989, when 100 or more fighters claiming allegiance to the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by... Show moreThis article deals with the civil war which broke out in Liberia on 24 December 1989, when 100 or more fighters claiming allegiance to the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, advanced over the border from C“te d'Ivoire to attack the town of Butuo in Nimba County. The article examines how Liberia descended into conflict and why it took such violent form. It surveys the political and military events that took place since the NPFL invasion, paying attention to the collapse of the government, the arrival of the Ecomog intervention force in Monrovia in August 1990, the murder of President Doe by Prince Johnson's Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), the role of Ulimo (United Liberation Movement for Democracy), an organization formed in 1991 by Liberians who had taken refuge in Sierra Leone, the emergence of warlords, the progress of negotiations and developments following the Cotonou Peace Accord of July 1993. It suggests that the causes of the war are not only political, but may also be explained in religious or spiritual terms. Much of the information in the article was acquired during a field trip to Liberia in July 1994. Show less
