Mitigating Local Disputes in Liberia (MLDL) Phase II

Detailed description of project:

The Kaizen Company is implementing the second phase of the Mitigating Local Disputes in Liberia (MLDL) project, funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). Kaizen is working to build the institutional and human capacity of local government officials and citizens to manage disputes and security concerns by focusing on developing and expanding County Security Councils (CSCs), District Security Councils (DSCs) and Community Forums (CFs). Kaizen is supporting structures at multiple levels in Liberian society to give citizens the ability to bring disputes to authority figures as easily as possible with the aim of preventing minor disputes from becoming large scale conflicts. In this way, the project is working to foster peace by applying alternative dispute resolution and mediation techniques to supplant violence. This builds citizens’ trust and confidence in the government’s ability to to fairly and rapidly respond to issues that are (or could become) larger security concerns.

Since its inception in 2011 under Phase I, MLDL has held more than 40 training sessions with 4,000 participants, including 580 Law Enforcement Officers., who have gone on to mediate more than 330 disputes. MLDL is also providing direct support by procuring critical inputs such as computers, cameras, motorbikes, and office supplies to ensure that the councils and forums have the tools they need to conduct their work. The project currently supports 32 structures in Lofa, Nimba, Bong, and Grand Gedeh counties providing mediation and adjudication support at all levels of Liberian society across the region where the country’s bloody civil wars first erupted.

With a focus on long-term sustainability, Kaizen has tailored its Organizational, Self-Assessment and Transformation Program (OSTP) to support CSCs, DSCs, and CFs in conducting self-assessments of existing operational and technical capacities, while also supporting the leadership in developing and implementing five-year strategic plans, annual implementation plans, bylaws, and communication plans, thereby fostering the sustainability of these councils and forums beyond Phase II of MLDL.