The United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) has approved a US$3 million project to support the promotion of a peaceful electoral environment in Liberia ahead of the 2023 legislative and presidential elections.
The project, titled, “Promoting Peaceful Electoral Environment and Community Security in Liberia”, aims to strengthen the inclusivity, coherence and effectiveness of electoral violence prevention initiatives in Liberia.
It also aims to strengthen the policy and institutional environment for a more inclusive and effective Early Warning and Response (EWER) mechanism, including by mainstreaming of human rights, gender and youth-based approaches.
According to a dispatch from the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the United Nations, the project will also address issue of electoral trucking and the increasing risk of misinformation and hate speech, which have been identified as triggers of electoral violence.
The letter of approval from the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, Elizabeth Spehar, to UN Resident coordinator of Liberia, Niels Scott, indicates that the project was approved under the Peacebuilding Fund’s Immediate Response Facility following the review by the Peacebuilding Project Review Group and the recommendation of the Project Appraisal Committee.
The project will be implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for a period of twenty-four months.
The Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office will disburse the project funds in two tranches—70% and 30%. The disbursement of the second tranche will follow a demonstrated project financial implementation rate of at least 75% of the first tranche and the submission of required Peacebuilding Fund reports.
The announcement of the approval of the project comes days after a bilateral meeting between His Excellency President George Manneh Weah and United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on the margins of the Seventy-Seventh Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
It can be recalled that earlier in September the United Nations, through its Peacebuilding Support Office, and the Liberia Configuration of the Peacebuilding Commission renewed its commitment to support Liberia’s peacebuilding priorities, especially the 2023 legislative and presidential elections during meetings with the Minister of Internal Affairs, Varney A. Sirleaf, in New York.