Security sector reform (SSR) has been a cornerstone of the UN-led approach to peacebuilding in Liberia since the reconstruction process began in 2003 and despite many setbacks much progress has been made since then. Yet SSR in Liberia is also notorious as a case of deficient local ownership of the reform process: the most notable example being the use of a private military and security company to rebuild the Liberian army without due consultation with Liberian authorities. Yet a closer examination of the SSR process reveals a more nuanced picture: not only have local actors become more successful at imposing their own vision at different junctures in the process but the UN and other external actors have also become more responsive to context over the life of the mission. Some aspects of the UN-led approach to SSR are indeed marked by efforts to understand local needs and socio-political dynamics as well as to implement an authentically “locally owned” approach to reform. But to what extent have these efforts actually resulted in contextualised solutions to Liberia’s security challenges, and most importantly has service delivery in the area of public security improved as a result? Based on extensive interviews across the spectrum of local and international actors involved in security governance and reform in Liberia, this paper will seek to show how SSR has been shaped by cooperation and conflict between local and external actors. This evidence points to several relevant conclusions for UN-led peacebuilding and local dynamics: the distinctions between who and what is local and what parts of the context matter shift to accommodate actors and political agendas; a contextualised process does not necessarily result in a contextualised outcome; and finally contextualised outcome is not necessarily a constructive outcome for wider peacebuilding.
