Post Conflict Development Countries |
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Liberia |
Founded by freed slaves and the American Colonization Society, Liberia declared
independence in 1847. Although the slaves' descendants represented only 5% of the
population, American-Liberians dominated politics for the following 133 years. Ever
since its independence from the American Colonization Society, Liberia was relatively
calm until the coup in 1980 that ended this dominance.
By the late 1980s, arbitrary rule and economic collapse culminated in a fourteen-year-long
civil war. Fighting intensified as the rebels splintered and battled each other,
the Liberian army and West African peacekeepers. The president was executed in 1990.
In 1995, a peace agreement was signed, leading to free elections which incited a
brief relief that lasted until 1999.
In 2001, UN imposed sanctions on Liberian diamonds - a source of funding for the
civil war - and issued a travel ban on government officials in response to their
continued support of the rebel insurgency in Sierra Leone.
In 2003, cease-fire negotiations between splintered rebel groups and the government
collapsed.
This raised demands for a robust UN peacekeeping operation. In August 2003, a comprehensive
peace agreement ended civil war. After two years of a transitional government, elections
in late 2005 resulted in the first African woman to be chosen as president. |
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