Reviewing the justice and security hub modality as piloted in Liberia

The government of Liberia and the UN are piloting a new approach financed by the UN Peace-building Fund (PBF) – the so-called ‘Justice and Security Hubs’. This paper outlines the process of developing and constructing that hub in Liberia, a devastated post-conflict country.

Findings are as follows:

• Liberia was placed on the agenda of the UN Peace-building Commission (PBC) in September 2010 following a request by the government of Liberia
• the statement of the mutual commitments identifies three priorities: rule of law, security sector reform and national reconciliation
• the hub’s vision suggested that by bringing justice and security services together under one roof, Liberia could improve economies of scale and institutionalise cooperation and inter-operability between agencies
• the ‘hub’ concept prioritises the development of relationships between justice and security institutions and the communities they serve

The author concludes that:

• by having identified a clear and important role for itself in the country, the PBC could show how the peace-keeping and peace-building agendas could be mutually beneficial
• in this sense, the hub concept puts forward a model for integrating a peace-building approach within a peace-keeping context
• while in some ways the hub concept is a very simple idea, it has captured the imagination of a community of practice which is in search of a service delivery model that is cost effective and can be feasibly achieved
• putting sustainability issues front and center is a key factor that will help ensure the success of the hub; the willingness of the government to meet the hub-related costs is a key indicator for sustainability

The document finally highlights that there has been some indication that the hub model being developed in Liberia could be a useful model and adapted to the justice and security needs of other post-conflict settings.