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Displacement and conflict substantially heighten the risk of gender-based violence including intimate partner violence (IPV), experienced by women and girls. This study aims to examine the links between conflict, forced displacement and IPV using nationally representative survey data measuring IPV combined with data on conflict-related violence from two different conflict-affected settings: Colombia and Liberia. We find that forced displacement is strongly associated with increased lifetime and past year IPV. Displaced women and girls in Colombia and Liberia have a 36 and 55 per cent, respectively greater risk of experiencing past year IPV and 39 and 49 per cent greater risk of experiencing lifetime IPV in each country respectively, compared to their non-displaced counterparts. Both conflict and displacement are independently and significantly associated with past year IPV. Taking conflict intensity into account increases the associated IPV risk to 40 and 60 per cent in Colombia and Liberia respectively. Recognising the increased prevalence of IPV for displaced women is vital to providing effective assistance. Humanitarian, state and peace-building efforts, should encompass the provision of a range of assistance services to help displaced and conflict-affected women heal from the impacts of the violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gendered discourses of motorcycle taxi drivers in Liberia construct cyclists as bad men, presumed to possess excessive masculinity: too much speed, aggression, and hustle. These discourses contrast with cyclists' self-perceptions, where motorcycling is one of few pathways available to them to become good men through the economic and social possibilities of the sector. Moreover, they maintain that cycling positions them not just as labourers but as peacebuilders. Liberian motorcyclists therefore narrate a quest for societal recognition against a backdrop of misrecognition. We analyse these gendered distortions and aspirations to show how masculinity positions young men outside of peacebuilding processes. We explore our positionality as researchers alongside efforts to discuss, analyse, and operationalise masculinities in research encounters and peacebuilding work with conflict-affected youth. We argue that aspirations for gender inclusion and gender analysis are not simple or straightforward tasks but require frequent translation, collaborative problem-solving, and participatory action methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children in Liberia receive 2.2 learning-adjusted years of schooling, one of the lowest levels of educational attainment in the world. We study one approach to address low enrollment and low rates of learning: a 10-month accelerated learning program run by the Luminos Fund to help out-of-school children catch up to grade level. We conducted a randomized evaluation of the program across 100 communities in Liberia. We find that the program had large effects on reading and numeracy skills for out-of-school children, and that children in the program catch up to the learning levels of children in government schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies show that the deployment of a peacekeeping operation (PKO) can provide an economic boost to the host state and its population. Some of those studies also suggest that such a boost is unsustainable and that peacekeeping exit may trigger economic downturn within host states. If that is the case, however, do some locals feel the adverse economic effects of PKO exit more than others? In this article, we argue that individuals who come to directly or indirectly depend on economic opportunities that emerge following the deployment of peacekeepers are particularly likely to experience negative economic effects after PKO exit. However, those effects may be partly mitigated through individuals' economic actions and/or their access to new sources of outside support after the exit of peacekeepers. We test our argument on original data gathered through a large-scale household survey of Monrovia, Liberia, conducted in early 2020. We also draw on qualitative interview data. After noting an overall downturn in Liberia's economy after 2018 (when the UN Mission in Liberia closed), we find broad support for our claims in the survey data, albeit qualified by nuances in a secondary, disaggregated analysis. We conclude by highlighting implications of our study for the planning and management of peacekeeping withdrawal. Los estudios existentes demuestran que el despliegue de una operación de mantenimiento de la paz (OMP) puede proporcionar un impulso económico al Estado receptor y a su población. Algunos de esos estudios también sugieren que ese impulso resulta insostenible y que la finalización de las operaciones de mantenimiento de la paz puede llegar a desencadenar una recesión económica en los Estados receptores. Sin embargo, si ese es el caso, ¿existen algunos ciudadanos que noten en mayor medida los efectos económicos adversos derivados de la finalización de una OMP con relación al resto de la población? En este artículo, argumentamos que las personas que llegan a depender directa o indirectamente de las oportunidades económicas que surgen tras el despliegue del personal de mantenimiento de la paz tienen una mayor probabilidad de experimentar efectos económicos negativos después de la finalización de una OMP. Sin embargo, esos efectos pueden mitigarse, en parte, mediante las medidas económicas adoptadas por los ciudadanos y/o su acceso a nuevas fuentes de apoyo externo después de la partida del personal de mantenimiento de la paz. Ponemos a prueba nuestro argumento usando datos originales, que fueron recopilados a través de una encuesta realizada a gran escala en hogares de Monrovia, Liberia, a principios de 2020. También, nos basamos en datos cualitativos obtenidos de entrevistas. Observamos una desaceleración general de la economía de Liberia después de 2018 (cuando se cerró la Misión de las Naciones Unidas en Liberia), la cual proporciona un amplio apoyo a nuestras afirmaciones en los datos de la encuesta. Sin embargo, encontramos matices para este apoyo al realizar un análisis secundario y desagregado. Concluimos destacando las consecuencias que tiene nuestro estudio para la planificación y la gestión de la retirada de las operaciones de mantenimiento de la paz. Des études existantes montrent que le déploiement d'opérations de maintien de la paix (OMP) peut stimuler l'État hôte et sa population sur le plan économique. Certaines d'entre elles suggèrent que cet effet n'est pas durable et que la fin de l'OMP peut avoir des effets négatifs sur l'économie des États hôtes. Néanmoins, si tel est le cas, certains résidents ressentent-ils ces effets plus que d'autres? Dans cet article, nous affirmons que les personnes qui finissent par dépendre directement ou indirectement des opportunités économiques créées par le déploiement de l'OMP auront plus de chances de ressentir des effets économiques négatifs quand cette opération prend fin. Toutefois, ces effets peuvent être atténués en partie par les actions économiques individuelles et/ou l'accès à de nouvelles ressources d'aide extérieure après la fin de l'OMP. Nous évaluons notre argument grâce à des données inédites collectées à l'aide d'un sondage de grande échelle auprès de particuliers de Monrovia, au Libéria, mené au début de l'année 2020. Nous nous fondons également sur des données qualitatives d'entretiens. Nous notons une récession généralisée au Libéria après 2018 (quand la mission de l'ONU au Libéria a pris fin), puis nous trouvons nombre d'éléments pour venir étayer nos arguments dans les données de sondage, malgré qu'ils soient nuancés par une analyse ventilée secondaire. En conclusion, nous soulignons les implications de notre étude pour la planification et l'organisation de la fin des OMP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempting to reduce America's dependence on foreign-sourced rubber, Firestone established in 1926 the world's largest industrial plantation in Liberia under a controversial 99-year-lease agreement. Nearly a century later, backlash against the exploitative nature of corporate hegemony and economic globalisation crystallised in a transnational campaign, Stop Firestone, and class action suit to hold the multinational accountable. I argue in this article that Liberia's unequal incorporation into global capitalism has configured and reconfigured the set of relations between government and citizens through parallel, albeit interrelated, processes—the globalisation of capital (via trade and investments) and the globalisation of rights (via universalised notions of citizenship as a human right). While the pursuit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in particular placed the interests of investors like Firestone 'above' the state thus undermining government–citizen relations, it simultaneously created a politicised workforce and network of Liberian activists thus strengthening citizen–citizen relations. Based on careful review of concession agreements and court proceedings as well as interviews conducted with government officials, activists and legal advocates based in Liberia and the United States, this article is the first to meld historical and contemporary developments, underscoring the twenty-first century implications of Firestone's enduring exploitation of Liberian land and labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly global society, public administration and public policy students must be equipped to respond to policy issues in culturally and contextually appropriate ways. It is also essential that MPA and PhD programs produce engaged global citizens with an understanding of public administration systems across boundaries. This paper presents an experiential learning method for achieving these goals. The special topics course Public Administration, Civil Society, & Democracy has been adopted by the Master of Public Administration (MPA) and the PhD in Public Administration and Public Policy (PAPP) programs at Auburn University. The course embraces a comparative perspective by physically positioning the students in global contexts, enhancing their awareness of cultural and administrative similarities and differences. Student learning objectives include research (international fieldwork), teaching (short courses and workshops for local partner organizations), and service/outreach (international service-learning projects). Although the course has been facilitated in several African countries, this paper focuses on Liberia during summer 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Sub-Saharan Africa, vulnerable road users make up approximately 50% of all traffic fatalities. Despite the dangers of using motorcycles for transportation, the usage of motorcycles-and more recently, motor tricycles-for both personal and commercial purposes has increased exponentially in most Sub-Saharan African cities. The study sought to study the safety, health and environmental impact of commercial motorcycles in Sub-Saharan African cities. Two cities-the national capital and a secondary city-were selected in each of our five study countries: Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Using a mixed-methods approach, motorcycle taxi operators were surveyed and key transport stakeholders were interviewed in these ten cities. In Ghana, where both motorcycle and motor-tricycle taxis are officially banned but continue to operate, we also surveyed motor-tricycle taxi operators. The results indicated variability in accident occurrence across countries for both minor and major road traffic collisions (RTCs) among motorcycle/tricycle taxi riders. Apart from Liberia, motorcycle/tricycle taxi unions in our study countries contribute to improving the safety of their riders. Interest in electric bikes is low amongst riders in all five countries, with education and infrastructure provision required to cause a shift from conventional bikes to electric bikes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past studies show that the processes of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) on women can increase their susceptibility to HIV infection. This is because genital tears or ruptures, scars and wounds from FGM/C may expose survivors to heightened risks of contracting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, if they engage in unsafe sexual practices. Hence, there is the need to promote HIV screening and testing among this population. Yet, in Liberia, there is a dearth of studies exploring the uptake of HIV testing among women who have experienced FGM/C. To understand this relationship, we used the 2019-2020 Liberia Demographic and Health Survey (LDHS) and employed logistic regression analysis to answer the following questions: (1) Are FGM/C survivors less likely to have been tested for HIV compared to non-FGM/C women; and (2) How does this disparity in the uptake of HIV testing differ by women's marital status? We found that survivors of FGM/C were less likely to have been tested for HIV than non-FGM/C women, even after accounting for theoretically relevant variables (OR = 0.83, p < 0.01). In response to our second question, we found that survivors of FGM/C who were formerly married were less likely to have been tested for HIV compared to their non-FGM/C counterparts (OR = 0.48, p < 0.01). These findings highlight the importance of trauma-informed HIV prevention strategies in Liberia, and the need for policymakers to take a holistic approach to addressing the challenges that FGM/C survivors, especially formerly married women, may face in accessing HIV prevention and testing services, and to work towards creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for all at-risk groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of peace and the "doing of peace(building)" are integral components of individual and community/societal well-being. Yet although health (defined broadly to include well-being), organizing, and peace are interrelated, there is a lack of research that considers them together. In this manuscript, we argue that peace is constituted through the processes and acts of organizing for well-being. "Peacebuilding" constitutes organizing processes by multiple actors over time to prevent and mitigate violence. To highlight the intersections between health, organizing, and peace, in this article we draw upon our peacebuilding collaborations in Liberia, West Africa, as part of the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI; pseudonym). We elaborate on three projects from the VPIʻs work as a means through which to then propose ways in which communication scholars can theorize intersections among health, organizing, and peace and contribute to empirical research at these intersections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to provide estimates on current comorbid alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco use among school adolescents in Liberia and Mauritius. Secondary data were analysed from the 2017 national and cross-sectional school health surveys in Liberia and Mauritius which sampled 4 934 adolescents (median age 17 years). One in five students (20.6%) reported one type of current substance use, 6.2% two types of current substance use, and 3.8% three types of current substance use. Almost one in 10 (7.8%) students reported current alcohol and tobacco use, 4.6% current alcohol and cannabis use, and 5.2% current cannabis and tobacco use. Male sex, older age, parental tobacco use, passive smoking, psychological distress, soft drink intake, school truancy and low parental support were associated with a higher degree of comorbid substance. One in 10 students engaged in two or three types of current substance use, and several associated factors were identified. Interventions targeting comorbid substance use among adolescents should prioritise identified associated factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civil society can serve as a vital mechanism for monitoring and accountability in partnership with non-profit organizations and government agencies, in the global South. This research evaluates the impact of a 2018–2020 project empowering Liberian civil society organizations (CSOs) to supplement health initiatives to mitigate gender-based sexual violence in schools. Some scholars may question the capacity of CSOs in low-income settings to manage interdisciplinary health interventions. When provided with adequate training and support, third sector actors can serve as an added mechanism of advocacy, monitoring, and accountability, particularly in resource-poor environments. This study presents a statistical analysis of survey data collected at baseline and endline of 30 participating CSOs trained to monitor and prevent sexual violence in 88 schools in randomly-selected communities within 15 districts. Representatives of selected CSOs from project sites receive ongoing training and mentoring by non-profit social workers to conduct evidence-based research to 1) monitor local schools for gender-based inequity and sexual violence of students and 2) support immediate improvements within learning environments. Results indicate that the CSO intervention offers significant, efficient, and rapid change, particularly in harmful learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to provide estimates on associations between tobacco use and mental morbidity and health risk behaviors among adolescents in Liberia and Mauritius. Cross-sectional and national school health survey data were analyzed from adolescents (median age, 17 years) in Liberia and Mauritius in 2017. Overall, 17.8% of the students reported current tobacco use. In the final logistic regression model, current tobacco use was associated with five poor mental health indicators (loneliness, anxiety, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and suicide plan), and 12 health risk behaviors (current alcohol use, current cannabis use, lifetime amphetamine use, leisure-time sedentary behavior, fast food and soft drink, non-condom use, multiple sexual partners, non-birth control use, involvement in physical fighting, serious injury, and school truancy). Interventions should include multiple comorbidities with tobacco use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collapse of Western-supported Afghan forces in mid-2021 emphasizes how difficult building whole armies can be. The Liberian experience 2004–2009 holds relevant lessons. After the civil war ended, the US State Department engaged two private military contractors to recreate a new Liberian army from the ashes. But scholarship so far on the Liberian army reconstruction process has been mixed, partially obscuring some of the core truths of the program. On reflection, the reasons for the very mixed results appear to be, first, that the idea of SSR itself is flawed, which is partially why "Security and Justice programming" is rising in prominence—local ownership in such armies is shared upwards through a multi-faceted patronage chain; second, that the Liberian state never had any meaningful history of military professionalism; and that creating an entire army was far more complicated than the usual tasks assigned to private contractors. The complete absence of any experienced leadership in the first months was devastating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diarrhoea is the second-leading cause of death in Liberia, a sub-Saharan African country of 4.8 million people, with a majority living in rural villages. Diarrhoea has often been linked with poor water quality and malnutrition. Three organisations partnered to distribute point-of-use (POU) water filters to every household in Liberia without other access to safe water, documenting the distribution of filters to 101,706 households. Each such household was surveyed at a baseline, two weeks, and eight weeks. In addition to household characteristics, the prevalence of diarrhoea was reported at each survey. Our goal was to determine the extent of the impact that POU filter use had on diarrhoea prevalence by age group, controlling for effects of water source, location, and household size. Overall, there was a 94.2% decrease in diarrhoea cases from baseline to the 8-week follow-up. We discuss the success of the intervention in decreasing diarrhoea prevalence. The filter distribution focused on reaching remote villages, and providing access to clean water where there was none before. This study confirms that community-wide access to clean drinking water can reduce diarrhoea prevalence. Subjects: Community Health; Global Health; Quality of Life [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What can we expect in terms of security governance in targeted states as international peacebuilding interventions and security sector reform ends? Can we assume that years of reform and capacity building will result in formal security institutions whose function alone can explain stability or instability, sustainable peace or relapses into violence, or even war? In 2018, the United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in Liberia. Celebrated as a success and role model for future undertakings, scrutinising the UN narrative may appear as a natural starting point for analysing Liberia's relative stability. Yet, in the Liberian case, formal performance reviews will never be sufficient. This paper, with a conceptual point of departure in theories of hybrid security governance, recognises the continued entangled nature of formal and informal security provision in Liberia. It argues that post-intervention narratives of success should not keep us from assessing security beyond formal state capacity. Instead, holistic approaches are key to understand security governance as non-state security providers are, for better or worse, likely to remain relevant despite years of reform and capacity building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers who study civil wars and other armed conflicts are bound to face ambiguities. This article continues the discussion about research brokers in conflict zones that started in a 2019 special issue of Civil Wars and scrutinises the finding that Liberian wartime command structures continue to linger in informal guises long to the post-conflict. Absent transparent acknowledging of the ambiguities it glosses over, past scholarship risks a far too neat story that imbues arguments with untested assumptions. The result neither captures the complexity of contemporary realities of Liberian former combatants nor helps Liberia to move forward from its difficult past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vertical transmission accounts for majority of new HIV infections among children worldwide. Ninety percent of HIV-positive children reside in Sub- Saharan Africa with their infection predominantly acquired via vertical transmission. In 2004, the vertical transmission rate of HIV in Africa was estimated at 25 − 40% but, remarkably, the rate has significantly decreased to less than 5% in most African countries following implementation and expansion of prevention of MTCT (PMTCT) programs. Objective: To determine the rate of and factors associated with vertical transmission of HIV among attendees of early infant diagnosis (EID) program of an academic and community-based tertiary facility in Liberia. Design: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of babies seen at Pediatric Unit of Infectious Disease Clinic of John F Kennedy Medical Center (JFKMC) in Monrovia, Liberia between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020. All subjects were children born to HIV-positive mothers and who had HIV DNA PCR testing performed between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 months. Children who suffered early neonatal death and those who did not undergo PCR testing were excluded. Demographics of mother to child pairs as well as factors known to influence vertical transmission of HIV such as partial (15.8%) or full (84.2%) participation in prevention of MTCT (PMTCT) programs, mode of delivery, breastfeeding and utilization of post-exposure prophylaxis were collected and assessed. Binomial logistic regression analyses were used to assess factors associated with vertical transmission. Results: During the study timeframe, 284 children had a HIV DNA PCR test with a male:female ratio − 1.3:1. Sixteen tested positive (conducted at a mean of 155 days post birth) giving a vertical transmission rate of 5.6%. For 239 mothers (84.2%) who had full PMTCT, 1.3% of their children tested positive, while for 45 mothers (15.8%) who had partial PMTCT, 28.8% of their children being positive. Two hundred and seventy six children (97%) had exclusive breastfeeding, 13 of whom tested positive while 2 children who were mixed fed tested positive. Children who had Nevirapine vs no prophylaxis (OR = 1.89[95% CI 1.16 − 2.96]), were delivered via caesarian section vs vaginal delivery (OR= 2.26[95% CI 1.92 − 4.12].) and full versus partial participation in PMTCT programs (OR = 4.02[95% CI 2.06 − 4.13] were more likely to have negative HIV test. Conclusion: Vertical transmission rate was found to be high in Liberia and may be driven by suboptimal PMTCT program participation including post-exposure prophylaxis for infants. Therefore, strategies to scale up and improve uptake of PMTCT services are needed to mitigate the burden of HIV among children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child servitude is a form of economic exploitation of children around the world. We examine this phenomenon with local specificity, in Liberia, where it represents a perennial failure of the government to protect children, who are among its most vulnerable citizens. Despite its persistence and high prevalence, child servitude has not been the focus of academic research on Liberia. This paper explores the interplay of transmuted American chattel slavery and indigenous specific Liberian cultural practices of human subjugation against a backdrop of socio-economic inequalities, and their linkages to contemporary child servitude in postwar Liberia. We discuss the impacts of child servitude on victims and recommend policy measures to protect the rights of Liberian children. If postwar Liberia is to achieve its pro-poor developmental agenda, policies must be formulated that address child servitude and other forms of exploitation against Liberian children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though there is comprehensive literature on the effectiveness of school feeding in increasing school enrollment and school attendance, little is known about its potential effect on child labor. This paper takes advantage of the 2007 Core Welfare Questionnaire Indicator survey conducted between August and September 2007 in Liberia to assess the causal impact of the School Feeding Programme (SFP) on child labour. Using the propensity score-matching technique, we find that the SFP leads to a statistically significant decrease in child labour estimated at between 14 and 17%. This result is robust to the use of different matching techniques and the choice of covariates used in the estimation of the propensity score. In addition, the analysis reveals that the SFP is mainly effective in reducing child labour for male children, children living in war-displaced households, and children living in households in which the head is literate. Overall, the study shows that the detrimental effect of conflict on child labor can be mitigated by school feeding interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper explores teachers' contribution to quality education in the midst of political, economic and social struggles in post-conflict Liberia. The paper adopts the qualitative research method and interviews were conducted with teachers and educational stakeholders to examine the needed contributions of teachers to quality education in post-conflict Liberia. In addition, the capability approach was adopted as an analytical lens to unpack quality education in post-conflict Liberia. This research paper finds that teachers' contribution to quality education in Liberia is minimal due to existing political and socioeconomic challenges in the country, which also affect the teaching profession. The paper, therefore, concludes that teachers' challenges need to be properly understood by concerned educational stakeholders and addressed before teachers can effectively contribute to quality education in post-conflict Liberia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deploys the language, narratives and proposed solutions of research participants to conceptualise peace research as a representational and relational process of recognition. To do so, it draws from a multi-year research project on the economic livelihood and social integration strategies of conflict-affected youth in Liberia's commercial motorcycling sector. Its starting point is reflexive engagement with participants' own frequent question: 'What is the benefit of this project?' It advocates for participatory approaches to the time-spaces that ex-combatant and conflict-affected youth actually inhabit (rather than those scripted or desired for them by more traditional forms of peace research). It applies critical peace-building insights about time to contribute to conceptualisations of post-conflict 'reintegration trajectories' that question ideas about who builds peace, and how. It argues that participatory research brings issues of social stigma, objectification and marginalisation to the fore. And, it explores the methodological implications of participatory research, identifying the ways in which sited ethnography, relational interviewing and narrative approaches can centre research-as-recognition. Participatory approaches make peace researchable not just to collect lived experiences (treating research as transactional data collection) but to implement participants' own ideas about peace-building strategies and solutions (treating peace research as relational recognition and something that is mutually beneficial). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I theorize and empirically illustrate how security sector reforms (SSR) can transform violence-centred masculinities in post-conflict militaries. I argue that substantial change of such gender roles depends on challenging the power that is institutionally inscribed into the constructed antagonisms between (1) men and women, (2) fighters and civilians, and (3) perpetrators and victims of violence. A case study on changing masculinities within the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) via SSR illustrates this argument. During the violent conflict in Liberia between 1989 and 2003, the AFL infamously perpetrated large-scale violence against civilians, enacting particularly violent forms of masculinity. After the war, the AFL was dissolved and rebuilt with an emphasis on human rights and, partly, gender mainstreaming. Drawing from interviews with multiple stakeholders and practice-theoretical reasoning, the paper renders empirically and theoretically tangible that SSR can change institutional constructions of masculinity by challenging socially constructed antagonisms that give power to men, fighters, and perpetrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol use remains a major public health concern among youths worldwide because of its deleterious effects on physical and mental health. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and correlates of alcohol use and misuse among adolescents in Liberia. Using the 2017 Liberia Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS), 2,744 adolescents aged 11–18 years responded to the 2017 cross-sectional survey. Students responded to questions on sociodemographic factors, substance use, psychological distress, and other health risk behaviors. Logistic regression was employed to study the relationship between alcohol use variables and socio-demographic characteristic, mental health problems, psychosocial variables, and parental involvement. The prevalence of alcohol use behaviors was 24.9% and 20.11% for current alcohol use and lifetime drunkenness, respectively. Significant risk factors for alcohol use include personal and lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking, sexual behavior, having been physically attacked, substance use (methamphetamine and cannabis), and truancy. These findings underscore the need for screening and early intervention policies to identify adolescents who may be at risk of misusing alcohol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In civil wars, unpopular and violent rebel organizations sometimes gain support from politically motivated constituencies who should, by outside appearances, logically oppose such groups. I explain this through a logic in which self-interested, insincere rebel leaders pander to aggrieved civilian populations to mobilize them, presenting the rebel organization as empathizing with and offering solutions to popular grievances. Leaders exploit an information asymmetry about their true preferences to gain allegiance using cheap sociopolitical appeals, rather than more costly material incentives or coercion. I inductively develop the theory through a case study of Renamo in Mozambique and then probe the generalizability of the logic through case studies of the Nicaraguan Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense and the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, drawing on interviews and archival materials. This article explicates a previously undertheorized phenomenon in the study of rebel mobilization and demonstrates how apparent popular, voluntary support for rebels can be more tenuous than it appears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liberia's protracted civil conflict was sustained for a period of fourteen years (1989–2003), killing approximately 250,000 Liberians and displacing half of the population. Liberia's war, like other contemporary African conflicts, has been persistently represented as an example of wanton violence, political tribalism, chaos, or an amalgamation of such elements. Founded in 1822, the Colony of Liberia was annexed by the American Colonization Society to expatriate and colonize "free" negros and their descendants on the coast of West Africa. "Re-colonization," as it was recognized by the ruling US Southern class, was rendered a compromise between the absolute abolition of the transatlantic slave trade and perpetual black servitude. Yet, repatriation was treacherously crafted by abolitionists and their pro-slavery contemporaries, alike, as a fugitive project, an opportunity for "free" blacks to experiment with emancipation and take refuge from the sociopolitical and economic conditions which amounted to what was effectively slavery by another name. The rhetorical propagation of the West African settlement as a pre-racial site – of sorts – in which stolen peoples could escape the violence of American racialism has made articulable contemporary theorizations of the Liberian civil war as a paradigmatic example of the negro's irresponsible experimentations with freedom. The following paper offers a re-contemplation of Liberian historiographical accounts, one that attends to the racialized global orders against which this national crisis has developed and limns the impossibility of freedom in the afterlife of slavery, where anti-black terror is not only temporally unbounded but transgeographical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently developed methods for the non-parametric estimation of Hawkes point process models facilitate their application for describing and forecasting the spread of epidemic diseases. We use data from the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa to evaluate how well a simple Hawkes point process model can forecast the spread of Ebola virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. For comparison, SEIR models that fit previously to the same data are evaluated using identical metrics. To test the predictive power of each of the models, we simulate the ability to make near real-time predictions during an actual outbreak by using the first 75% of the data for estimation and the subsequent 25% of the data for evaluation. Forecasts generated from Hawkes models more accurately describe the spread of Ebola in each of the three countries investigated and result in a 38% reduction in RMSE for weekly case estimation across all countries when compared to SEIR models (total RMSE of 59.8 cases/week using SEIR compared to 37.1 for Hawkes). We demonstrate that the improved fit from Hawkes modeling cannot be attributed to overfitting and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of Hawkes models in general for forecasting the spread of epidemic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has investigated the shocks effects of inflation, money supply, and exchange rate on the economies of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) from 1987 to 2019 using the Kapetanios-Shin-Snell nonlinear cointegration test, Kilian-Vigfusson asymmetric tests, and Hatemi technique that allows the estimation of Asymmetric Structural Vector Autoregressive (ASVAR) model. The findings revealed that in all the countries, the shocks effects of inflation, money supply, and exchange rate are asymmetric except in Guinea and inflation in Liberia. Furthermore, for Gambia and Nigeria, only money supply is impacting the economies, while for Ghana, Guinea, and Liberia, none of the variables is impacting the economies but for Serra Leone, money supply and exchange rate are impacting its economy. Moreover, all the countries have common sources of shocks emanating from monetary and exchange rate policies except Gambia, which is monetary policy only. Therefore, the paper recommends the members, especially Ghana, Guinea, and Liberia, a solemn effort on appropriate monetary and exchange rate policies to boost their economies. Also, since almost all the countries have common sources of shocks emanating from monetary and exchange rate policies, they can embark into the monetary integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigated household-level food security for Ghana, Liberia, and Senegal. Different agroclimatic, ecological, social, and farming conditions in West Africa were represented. Using data-driven Random Forest and Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) decision tree methodology, this study classified 644 Ghanaian, 323 Liberian, and 510 Senegalese households for comparison and interpretation on food security. The predictors growing Liberian and Senegalese decision trees imply community support, diverse selling channels outside villages, resolving the dispute over farmland, and increasing community-level investment for food availability and access demonstrate household food security. Predictor importance on food security for Ghana highlighted the role of independent producers and food suppliers toward stability. Household food security or insecurity was distinguished by location-specific and gender-led households in Liberia and Senegal. Practically, the results presented a need to step-up agricultural education and extension based on an empirical field survey and its interpretations. The results can add considerations to the role of farming households as independent and individual suppliers and consumers to long-standing dimensions of food security, i.e., food availability, access, and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant presence is a social reality in most societies of today. Most of the research on migrant health comes from countries popular for migration. Thus, research on migrant health is less available in developing worlds. This study, therefore, investigated psychological distress among Liberian migrants in Nigeria with shame and social supports as correlates. Participants were Liberian migrants residing in a refugee camp in Nigeria. With a quantitative research approach, data were collected via the use of questionnaires from 520 participants, 64.2% men and 35.8% women. Findings revealed that psychological distress is heightened by a predisposition to experience shame. On the other hand, social support was associated with less psychological distress. The implications of these findings were discussed and emphasis was placed on committing more effort to research on migrant health in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates local perceptions of international peacebuilding in Sierra Leone and Liberia and explains the need for an inclusive framework addressing peace and justice at the same time. These neighbouring countries in West Africa not only share the burden of an intertwined conflict history but have also been described as prototypes for successful peacebuilding. However, both cases show striking differences with regard to the relative importance given to security and justice during the peace process and within the selected peacebuilding approaches. In Liberia, the peacebuilding framework was clearly sequenced, favouring security over justice. In Sierra Leone, it included a comprehensive TJ component, which was implemented alongside security-centred initiatives. In order to compare these two cases and to elaborate on the challenges of establishing both peace and justice in post-conflict settings with a more people-centred focus, we conducted expert interviews with (inter)national peacebuilding actors and opinion surveys, asking how the civilian populations themselves perceive the peace process and the effectiveness of international peacebuilding. The findings provide insights into local experiences with the inclusive peacebuilding framework implemented in Sierra Leone and the drawbacks of delaying justice and accountability in Liberia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methods study aimed to use local terminology to accurately characterize the prevalence and risk factors associated with substance use and risky health behaviors among school-based youth in Monrovia, Liberia. An 86-question survey was validated using qualitative data obtained from focus groups at two secondary schools in central and greater Monrovia. The revised survey was then administered to 400 students from eight different secondary schools in this region. The observed prevalence estimates for lifetime and current substance use were considerably higher than previously reported among adolescents in the West African region. Among students who were former child soldiers, the rates of current substance use were 5.8–33.8% higher compared to the overall study sample. Male gender, academic seniority, and peer approval of substance use were all found to be strong predictors of current substance use among secondary students. Results suggest the need for targeted, trauma-informed interventions to reduce rates of substance use and risky health behaviors among youth in Liberia and similar post-conflict settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

United Nations-led Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes have increasingly included female ex-combatants; however, the contribution of such DDR programmes to female ex-combatants' empowerment and reintegration, as well as to peace-building, remains debated. Drawing on 77 semi-structured interviews with female ex-combatants and DDR officials in Liberia and Nepal, this article explores the potential of political reintegration to better support female ex-combatants' reintegration and the building of an inclusive, positive peace. This article contends that political reintegration can provide female ex-combatants with peaceable means to address grievances and bring together ex-combatants and non-combatants to work towards peace. Political reintegration support should not be a substitute for economic and social reintegration or physical and mental health support, but rather should work to compliment these. To be meaningful to female ex-combatants and to peace, political reintegration support must prevent a 'triple burden' of productive, reproductive, and peace-building/political labour. Lastly, this article argues that UN-led DDR has potential to contribute to or undermine building an inclusive, positive peace if it were to provide reintegration support to female ex-combatants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the intersection of gender and place with agricultural extension services to understand disparities in resource and information access and build community resilience in post-conflict Liberia. It emphasizes how such intersections may be further compounded by climate change and provides possible solutions. Using a community-based research approach, 352 surveys and 44 focus groups were conducted in 22 communities in 3 counties in north-central Liberia. Subsequently, qualitative, quantitative, and spatial analyses were done to explore gender and place-based differences in farmer access to agricultural resources and household agency. Study results show that women farmers have less access to technology, agricultural resources and information; higher, combined productive and domestic, labor burdens; and that farmers of both genders want more female extension officers. This study provides critical data to help effectively target limited expenditures on national extension services to smallholder farmers in post-conflict settings. Further, solutions for practitioners to adaptively mitigate farming challenges enhanced by climate change. Studying the intersection among gender, rural isolation and diminished capacity in post-conflict countries will enhance understanding of (extension service) capacity in settings with multiple drivers affecting gender inequalities. Improve the overall understanding of how compounding factors such as gender and place effect extension service access and the ability of farmers to adapt to change, in Liberia and other post-conflict settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One way civil society strengthens democracy is by facilitating political participation. Established literature, for example, demonstrates that individuals with greater associational involvement are more likely to engage in politics. There is growing critique of this micro-level focus, however, and increasing acknowledgment that civil society impacts political participation not just at the individual level, but also at the organizational and structural level. This study helps address this critique by assessing whether civil society density, a structural-level characteristic, impacts political participation in Liberia. Using Round 6 Afrobarometer data, combined with a county-level civil society density measure, I test the relationship between civil society density and six forms of political participation, including conventional forms of participation such as voting, communing, and contacting, and unconventional forms such as participation in demonstrations/protests. How does civil society density influence these various forms of political participation? Does civil society density stimulate or inhibit conventional forms of activity such as voting? How about less conventional forms, such as demonstration/protest? Findings suggest higher civil society density in Liberia reduces a citizen's propensity towards some forms of participation, including contacting a government official, contacting the media, refusing to pay taxes and fees, and participating in demonstrations and protests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focussing on the relationship between legal colonisation and legal globalisation in the context of post-conflict peacebuilding and reconstruction, I argue that promotion of the rule of law as social domination over local economies, politics and societies has been, historically, core to international efforts. Legal and judicial reforms, which are designed to restore and strengthen the post-conflict state, not only serve to obfuscate historical conditions associated with settler-colonial rule but also reconstitute the relationship between dominant domestic actors and global capital. Moreover, whereas rule-of-law promotion has increasingly been professionalised and standardised, the underlying objectives to promote neoliberal economic growth, subordinate indigenous legal systems, and advancing ruling interests remain the enduring legacies of legal colonialism. In making this argument, I interrogate the underlying ideological and political drivers of the UK-supported justice sector development in Sierra Leone and the US-funded rule-oflaw programmes in Liberia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress among adolescent school children in Liberia. We analysed data from a cross-sectional nationally representative sample of 2 744 school adolescents (median: 18 years) gathered by the Liberia Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS, 2017). Results indicate that the overall prevalence of psychological distress was 24.5%, 27.3% in girls and 21.2% in boys. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, bullying victimisation, girls, frequent experience of hunger, daily exposure to secondary smoke, and ever amphetamine use increased the odds of psychological distress. In addition, in univariate analysis, interpersonal violence (attacked and in fights), parental disrespect of privacy, school truancy, substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis), multiple sexual partners, and injury were associated with psychological distress. Addressing psychological distress and related factors should be a priority of prevention and care strategies in this vulnerable population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article determines the effect of transaction costs and socio-economic factors on smallholder natural rubber farmers' decisions to sell at the farm gate to itinerant traders or in the alternative markets in Liberia. Cross-sectional data were collected from 200 smallholder natural rubber farmers through multistage sampling. The results indicate that transaction costs and socio-economic variables significantly influenced the choice of selling outlets. The study recommends that policy could aim at establishing market support services in the form of market information systems and affordable means of transportation to enhance access to up-to-date market information on trading partners and prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can the careful implementation of global health research reduce the stigmatization of involved human subjects? This study analyses stigma in an Ebola vaccine clinical trial in West Africa that deployed complex community engagement strategies including a sensitization component. Qualitative research found that stigma against trial subjects manifested in various forms beyond the reach of these anti-stigma interventions. Drawing on and advancing Hacking's notion of 'looping effects', this paper argues that stigma was a product of a wider socio-historical context beyond the control of community-based interventions. This case prompts global health practitioners to think through the limitations of community-based interventions in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the aftermath of the First World War for West African Kru in colonial Namibia. It posits that Kru had been a 'labour elite' in the colony under German rule and that the war and resulting years of South African occupation led to their economic decline. By the early 1920s, this situation was a strong factor in West Africans' robust engagement and leadership within the colony's 'Africa for the Africans' Garveyite movement. Economic troubles after the First World War, as well as an increasing tendency towards intermarriage between Kru and local Namibians, factored into Kru workers' decisions to join political ranks with the Herero and other groups who had suffered under German rule. Both local and migrant Africans saw Garveyism as a possible solution for their new economic and societal challenges. The article utilises a South West African migrant worker database that I compiled for this research (WBL Namibian Worker Database) and micro-histories to give insight into individual workers' experiences between 1892 and 1925. On a broader note, this work expands research on the role of West African labour in colonial Namibia, bringing regional historiography more firmly into the scope of the discipline of global history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Liberian teachers have limited experiences and low efficacy for teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), which results in students receiving little preparation and having low levels of motivation to pursue STEM careers in Liberia. Teacher attitudes are central for efficient teaching STEM. However, little is known about the attitudes of teachers towards STEM education, as well as what factors influence these attitudes among Liberian teachers. This paper describes a novel study on Liberian science teachers' attitudes, and it seeks to elucidate and comprehend the current attitudes toward STEM education among science teachers and identify the factors that might influence these attitudes. A questionnaire was developed to examine attitudes towards STEM education among 194 in-service science teachers and was reinforced by interviews with 10 science teachers. A significant difference was observed between private- and public-school science teachers with respect to their overall attitude scores. A marginally significant difference was found among teachers from different grades. Findings from regression analysis showed that professional and administrative support, peer collaboration, STEM training, and teaching time positively influence science teachers' attitudes towards STEM education. Recommendations regarding how to support these teachers were also provided based on the analysis of interview data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers studying conflict, violence, and human rights in dangerous settings across the globe face a complex set of ethical, personal, and professional dilemmas. Especially in more positivist fields and professions, there is pressure to conduct and present research as 'objective'. Yet the reality of field research in violent and conflict-affected settings is much messier than ideals in methodology textbooks or the polished presentation of field data in much published work. I argue that rather than the imposition of blanket positivist standards of replicability and research transparency, research in violent settings needs to draw lessons from interpretivist ideas and methodologies about the researcher's role in the process of data gathering, analysis, and presentation. I focus on three key issues: reflexivity, temporality, and the geography of research between 'field' and 'home,' drawing on personal experiences conducting research on conflict, violence, and postconflict society in Liberia, Nicaragua, South Africa, and Uganda. I show how these three issues practically, theoretically, and ethically conflict with replicability and transparency demands. Through a practice of reflexive openness, however, positivist-leaning researchers can more honestly and ethically reconcile realities of research with professional expectations in the field and after returning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the perpetration of sexual violence within the institutional setting of primary schools in Liberia using secondary analysis of data collected from 811 Liberian school aged participants (298 girls and 513 boys). The study looked specifically at the perpetration of: 1) sexual violation, 2) transactional sex, and 3) sexual coercion. Sexual violation was the most common form of sexual violence experienced, followed by sexual coercion, and then transactional sex. Findings showed statistically significant differences in experiences of transactional sex and sexual coercion, with girls more likely to experience both forms of violence. Further, girls were more likely to experience sexual abuse by a teacher and religious figure. Perpetration by teachers, school staff, and religious figures were all linked to transactional sex. Results showed that transactional sex was most highly statistically significantly associated with teachers while perpetration by a religious figure was statistically significantly associated with sexual coercion. Girls had three times of the odds of experiencing transactional sex and coercion. We conclude that there is a need for interventions to prevent sexual abuse from occurring in educational institutions. In particular, there is a need for protective mechanisms addressing the transactional nature of abuse with teachers and school staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New and emerging infectious diseases such as the Ebola virus and the recent coronavirus create ideal conditions for cross-border disease outbreaks. The need to undertake comparative studies across contexts in affected regions becomes important for health communication and policy decision making. The purpose of this study is to compare the differences in knowledge, risk perception, affect, and self-efficacy about Ebola between respondents in an affected and an unaffected but proximate country in West Africa. This study used a survey with multi-stage sampling of community members in two peri-urban districts in Ghana and Liberia. Transmission knowledge lowered comparative vulnerability and perceived risk, while knowledge about signs and symptoms and knowledge about prevention increased self-efficacy. But knowledge was not a predictor of self-efficacy. Affective imagery analysis presents distinct affective profiles of respondents in the two countries. Different kinds of knowledge relate to risk perception and self-efficacy differently and this should be considered when developing health communication campaigns. Health and risk communication should no longer be just a context specific affair but must have a regional or sub-regional component that considers unaffected but at-risk countries. Finally, risk and health communicators need to consider the affective states of community members because affective states may indicate the basic feeling (individual and societal) profile of the audience, which will be beneficial for determining the level and type of messaging likely to be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health professionals may be confronted with unique ethical challenges in outbreak response situations. We conducted interviews with twenty-two public health professionals involved in responses to the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone and Liberia to explore how they understood and experienced the ethical challenges involved in this work. The concerns covered in these interviews ranged dramatically, but three themes emerged as unique contributions from a subset of individuals integrally involved with the frontline response, who framed concerns about representation as key ethical issues. These included concerns regarding misrepresentations of West Africans as 'resistant' to the epidemic response, failures in material and information resources provided in the response, and representations of 'rationality' between responders and publics. Such concerns suggest that perspectives advanced in the critical public health literature in recent decades are circulating amongst public health professionals involved in outbreak response, although discord amongst respondents suggests the need for more deliberate efforts to reframe thinking about resistance, resources, and rationality in future public health outbreak responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 2016–2017 school year, the Liberian government launched Partnership Schools For Liberia (PSL), a pilot program in which the management of 93 primary schools was transferred to 8 private contractors. The pilot owed much to the importation of western policy models and was facilitated by the British organisation ARK and involved BIA, a private school company who receive funding from US and British sources. Despite criticism from civil society, at the end of the first year a randomised control trial (RCT) reported that the PSL program led to a 60% increase in educational attainment. However, the framework of the RCT was not followed by many of the PSL contractors, who were able to draw on greater economic support than government schools, thus invalidating any claims that private management was superior to government based management of schools. For its part, the MoE further demonstrated low regard for the RCT, by announcing expansion before the evaluation had been released, signalling that the PSL (now renamed LEAP) was a policy enacted via sweeping incrementalism, in which procedures such as the RCT were only implemented to give the appearance of accountability, and that the plan to expand PSL was always the endgame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Polish Maritime and Colonial League's ambitions to acquire colonies in Africa for Poland in the interwar period, using two cases of expeditions to Africa organised by the League: 1928 expedition to Angola and M/S Poznań's 1935 trade expedition to West Africa. These cases serve as examples of newcomers in the race for colonies who attempted to carve their share in Africa's resources by cooperation with Africans and European colonial powers, and the ways in which knowledge production and knowledge retrieval were used in the process. They reproduced European stereotypes about Africa and Africans, conceptualised Africa as terra nullius waiting to be cultivated by Europeans, and themselves as white Europeans destined to do this. Despite lack of lasting success of the League's projects, they reveal a network of colonial and inter-colonial encounters in Africa encompassing the existing empires and Africans, but also aspiring colonials. Thus, rather than a marginal phenomenon, they appear as one having a global context, entangled in the circulation of ideas and peoples, networks of competition and cooperation across and beyond colonial empires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Liberia's 2017 elections represented a watershed moment in the country's political history. In addition to completing the first democratic transfer of power from one president to another since 1944, it resulted in wide representation across many different parties and independents as well as high levels of legislative turn-overs. Additionally, these polls brought forward unprecedented numbers of party reconfigurations, increased levels of defections, and politicians/parties losing abysmally in presumed ethno-regional bases. In this article, we argue that Liberia currently exists in a post-war arena of "post-party" politics where a profound disregard for parties is the norm, and in which the electorate and politicians alike forum shop for candidates and/or political configurations they presume will deliver the best results at national, sub-national and local levels. Although literature exploring electoral trends in Africa tends to over-emphasize ethno-regionalism as a driver and constraint in the choices of voters and politicians, we demonstrate instead that Liberians make relatively informed, strategic decisions about political alliances and ballot casting thereby subverting allegiances to ethnicity and region. By further eschewing party loyalties, Liberians have gradually become astute forum shoppers in a political marketplace that makes running for office and voting complex undertakings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International efforts to reconstruct weak states after war have increased in recent years. These endeavors often focus on rebuilding militaries given the importance of strong and professional militaries in preventing conflict relapse. What explains variation in military-building outcomes in post-conflict states? The literature on statebuilding and security sector reform suggests a number of factors that are thought to ameliorate statebuilding dilemmas. This article identifies three central mechanisms from the literature and evaluates them using evidence from a case study of post-conflict army-building in Liberia. The findings show that the voluntary nature of cooperation matters strongly for the successful outcome in Liberia, as does donor identity, albeit differently than as predicted by theory. The role of local ownership receives somewhat weak support, however, which is surprising in light of its importance in the literature. These results have significant implications for theories of statebuilding and security assistance policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast amount of literature exists on communication campaign design, implementation, and evaluation, especially in health contexts. Despite recent calls to center the role of local citizens in designing and implementing campaign initiatives, limited literature exists on how to integrate local expertise with the expertise of those external to the local context. Drawing on health communication campaigns literature, peacebuilding literature, and our experiences collaborating on a multi-year communication campaign for peacebuilding and health promotion in Liberia, West Africa, we advance a locally driven communication campaign approach that integrates expertise of local citizens, campaign researchers, and campaign practitioners. We make a critical linkage between health communication and peacebuilding to discuss implications about how a locally driven communication campaign approach can contribute to communication campaigns in general, as well as health and peacebuilding specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]