“This paper is a preliminary attempt to look at the role of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) in the protection of civilians. In this vein, the paper will briefly explore the political and
diplomatic developments leading to the
deployment of the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS) Mission
in Liberia (ECOMIL), its mandate and its
impact on the Liberian peace process. The paper then focuses on the UNMIL,particularly its broad mandate, deployment and the implementation of critical peacekeeping and peace-building tasks, notably disarmament,
demobilisation, rehabilitation and
reintegration (DDRR), reform of the
security sector, issues of human rights as
well as the rule of law and transitional
justice. These issues will be analysed with
the aim of highlighting their crucial importance to the overall peace process in general and the protection of civilians in particular.”
