MONROVIA — The Aiding Disadvantaged Women and Girls Association (ADWANGA) has opened a three-day conference in Monrovia examining how Liberia can address the lasting effects of gender-based violence, strengthen public accountability, and ensure that survivors of the country’s civil conflicts have meaningful access to justice and reparations.
The conference, held under the theme “Constitutional Futures of Justice: Gendered Violence, Decolonizing Reparations, and the Making of Public Accountability in Liberia,” brings together government officials, international partners, researchers, legal practitioners, civil society organizations, and survivor advocates to discuss how emerging justice institutions can respond to the harms caused by Liberia’s conflicts.
The October 12–14 gathering comes as Liberia advances efforts to establish the War and Economic Crimes Court (WECC), renewing debate over how accountability mechanisms should recognize conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, address economic harm, and restore survivors’ dignity.
Opening the conference, ADWANGA Founder and Executive Director Amelia M. Cooper said the discussions were intended to move beyond legal accountability alone and examine what justice should mean for survivors seeking to rebuild their lives.
“For many survivors, justice goes beyond seeing perpetrators held accountable,” Cooper said, explaining that it can also mean recognition of the harm suffered, access to support and services, restoration of dignity, opportunities to rebuild lives, and guarantees that such violence will not happen again.
She urged participants to use the three-day gathering to identify practical approaches to reparations and survivor-centered justice in Liberia and beyond.
Government, UN Officials Call for Survivor-Centered Justice
Deputy Gender Minister Curtis Dorley, speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, acknowledged the disproportionate burden of conflict-related violence borne by Liberian women and girls.
He said sexual violence during the civil conflicts left physical, emotional, social, and economic scars that continue to affect survivors, families, and communities.
Dorley stressed that lasting recovery requires more than the absence of conflict, emphasizing the need for recognition of harm, access to justice, restoration of dignity, and concrete measures to help survivors rebuild their lives.
He also underscored the importance of placing survivors at the center of policies and institutions intended to address past abuses.
“Justice must not only be legal and procedural,” Dorley said. “It must also be responsive, inclusive and compassionate.”
He added that the effects of sexual and gender-based violence often extend beyond the immediate incident, affecting survivors’ health, education, livelihoods, family relationships, economic opportunities, and participation in society.
At the opening, Marion Deniaud of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) welcomed the conference as an opportunity to build on renewed momentum for implementing recommendations of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Deniaud said the legacy of the conflicts includes not only conflict-related sexual violence but also lost livelihoods, psychological trauma, economic vulnerability, and intergenerational harm, including trauma affecting children born as a result of sexual violence.
She emphasized that the proposed War and Economic Crimes Court and the complementary National Anti-Corruption Court must be designed to earn public trust and respond meaningfully to victims and survivors.
According to Deniaud, survivor participation must go beyond information-sharing and help shape the institutions themselves. She called for gender-sensitive court mandates, specialized expertise in gender-based violence, and safeguards that allow victims and witnesses to participate safely.
She also highlighted the importance of mental health and psychosocial support for those engaging with justice processes.
Deniaud cautioned that criminal accountability alone would not be sufficient, urging participants to examine reparations and other forms of redress for physical, psychological, and financial harm.
She called for the conference’s recommendations to be specific, time-bound, and accompanied by follow-up and implementation plans.
Research Highlights Links Between Violence and Economic Harm
The conference also builds on research undertaken by ADWANGA and its partners on sexual and gender-based violence, reparations, and Liberia’s emerging accountability framework.
Anna M. Agathangelou of York University said she and ADWANGA had been working together for years on questions surrounding sexual and gender-based reparations. She recalled a previous gathering in Liberia in June 2024 that examined the relationship between reparations and the proposed War and Economic Crimes Court.
She said the subsequent research was intended to deepen discussion about how reparations could be considered alongside the creation of the court.
Caroline Bowah of the National Investment Commission also highlighted the importance of evidence and the challenges survivors can face when presenting their experiences within formal legal systems.
She questioned whether trauma, fragmented recollections, or difficulties recounting events chronologically could affect how survivors’ testimony is assessed as evidence.
Her remarks reflected a central concern of the conference: how legal institutions can recognize survivors’ experiences without excluding or distorting the realities of trauma.
The program features sessions on gendered violence and economic extraction, the role of evidence in producing legal truth, the proposed WECC as an emerging constitutional institution, and the long-term effects of war on bodies, livelihoods, and communities.
Other discussions will examine institutional legitimacy, trauma and legal recognition, decolonizing reparations, and how justice systems should be funded and structured to remain credible and sustainable.
Building Public Trust in Liberia’s Justice Process
A major focus of the gathering is how Liberia can design accountability institutions that are trusted by the people they are intended to serve.
Deniaud said the proposed court framework must consider whether its mandate adequately covers gender-related crimes, whether it has the necessary expertise, and whether its procedures protect victims and witnesses.
She also encouraged participants to develop recommendations that can inform policymaking and contribute to the implementation of Liberia’s transitional justice commitments.
The conference brings together representatives of government institutions, including the Ministry of Gender and the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court, alongside international partners and civil society actors.
ADWANGA is convening the gathering with support and collaboration from York University, Medica Mondiale, and Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, according to the conference materials.
Cooper thanked the partners, visiting speakers, researchers, and advocates for participating, while paying tribute to survivors whose experiences underscore the importance of continued efforts toward justice.
As the discussions continue through Wednesday, October 14, the organizers hope to identify practical ways to strengthen reparations, improve institutional accountability, and ensure that survivors’ voices influence the future of justice in Liberia.
The central challenge, participants emphasized, is to ensure that the pursuit of justice addresses not only past violations but also the continuing social, economic, and psychological consequences of violence.