Community Cohesion in Liberia

At the core of Liberia’s conflict lies a class of
marginal young people who currently lack faith in
any kind of institutions. They consider that family,
marriage, education, markets and the administration
of justice have all failed them. Many have preferred
to take their chances with various militia groups.
Successful peacebuilding, and reconstruction through
community empowerment will, to a large extent,
depend upon the dismantling of these institutionally
embedded distinctions between citizens and subjects.
A genuinely inclusive, appropriately targeted
community-driven development (CDD) process
could play a crucial role in shaping a different kind of
society, but only if it incorporates marginalized and
socially-excluded groups in the rebuilding process.