In the Field West African Human Rights Training Initiative
Conflict and Instability in West Africa For the last 20 years,
the Mano River sub-region of West Africa (Guinea, Sierra Leone,
Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire) has been ravaged by a region-wide
conflict, with guns, youth combatants and refugees spilling over
porous borders. In 2011, a renewed political crisis in Côte
d’Ivoire once again threatens to pull the entire sub-region back
into armed conflict and chaos. With conflicts marked by “blood
diamonds,” child soldiers and widespread sexual violence, the
human rights fallout for many West Africans has been, and
continues to be, devastating. But human rights abuses have not
just been a consequence of war and conflict. Impunity for human
rights violations has itself been a chronic source of
instability and an obstacle to long-term peace. Ultimately,
building positive peace in the sub-region means building better
and more accountable governments, but this cannot be done
without a vibrant and vigorous civil society