Security Sector Reform and Peacebuilding in Liberia

Liberia especially, experienced years of violent conflicts from 1989 to 2003, resulting in the devastation and the destruction of the security sector in the country, as well as the killing of more than 200,000 people, with about 1.2 million people displaced. A major source of Liberia's security deficits in the period preceding the violent conflict can be traced to the history of the Liberian security sector and the fact that the Liberian security sector functioned as instruments for the protection of the interest of the regime, as opposed to the interests of the people. The conflict in Liberia had severe impact on the security sector to the extent that the security architecture of the country became severely weakened. The prospect of peace building in Liberia was enhanced by a Security Sector Reform (SSR) process that was set up to transform a security sector that historically was dysfunctional and politicized.