Communication, Peacebuilding, and Development: A Graduate Study Abroad

Course in Liberia

Dr. Stacey L. ConnaughtonAssociate Head & Associate ProfessorDirector of the Purdue Peace Project

The Brian Lamb School of CommunicationPurdue University, USA

The Ebola Outbreak in Liberia

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• 694 Liberians had died from Ebola by the end of August 2014 (WHO, 2014)

• Those were the official counts.

• 4,241 Liberians had died by March15, 2015 (CDC, 2015)

Photo credit: BBC

– “…now we face a new enemy from within. Liberia is battling a virulence that threatens to destroy all of our progress. The Ebola outbreak has closed all schools. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and two airlines have stopped flights to the country. Ebola is resurrecting old traumas for Liberians who survived the war” (Gbowee, 2014).

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“A new enemy from within”

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• Liberian Nobel Laureate, Lehmah Gbowee in an Op-Ed in the U.K.’s The Guardian

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Idea for the Summer 2014 Graduate Course

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Course Content

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• Peacebuilding and Development as a Multi-Disciplinary, Multi-Sector Endeavor• Open to all graduate students at Purdue• Provide graduate students with the opportunity to:

• Observe challenges firsthand• Think, discuss, and write about issues• Interact with government, (I)NGOs, higher

education, and everyday citizens

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The Purdue Peace Project

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• Mission

The mission of the Purdue Peace Project is to encourage and assist local leaders in fragile states to address clearly identified situations that threaten to lead to political violence. In promoting locally-driven and inclusive approaches to peacebuilding, we seek to reduce the likelihood of political violence and contribute to lasting peace. In doing so, we also seek to add to the body of knowledge in this field by documenting and disseminating our work to practitioners and scholars alike.

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Liberia

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The Pen-Pen Drivers Project

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Liberia

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The Pen-Pen Drivers Project

• The Issue− Tensions between pen-pen drivers, police, and customers− Concerns that pen-pen drivers could be utilized again

during campaigns to incite violence

• Key actor groups− Pen-Pen Drivers− National Police of Liberia− Ministry of Transportation− Community Members− Market Women

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The Pen-Pen Peace Network

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• 15 representatives – The police– Ministry of Transport– Pen-pen drivers unions– Pen-pen drivers themselves– Market women– Customers of pen-pen

drivers

Pen-Pen Peace Network

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Multi-media Campaign

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Photo credit: PPP

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The Ebola Outbreak

13Photo credit: AP

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Pen-Pen Peace Network: Change in Focus

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Citizen-to-Citizen Ebola Prevention Campaign

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Ebola Prevention Campaign

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• Mass communication campaign

• Interpersonal, face-to-face communication campaign

• A series of sanitation sites in Monrovia

Photo credit: WOMSUD

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The Ebola Prevention Campaign

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• 25 sanitary stations in 5 communities in Monrovia• Disseminated Ebola awareness messages in English and

8 different local dialects via interpersonal and mediated channels

• Distributed more than 2,588 brochures and 250 posters• Designed and produced dramas about the Ebola outbreak

in 8 different dialects have been broadcasted over radio in 5 counties in Liberia

• By January 2015– Visited more than 6,000 houses– Spoke to more than 28,000 Liberian citizens

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We hope to offer the graduate course in Summer 2016!

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• Ebola is not over• Public discourse continues to critique institutions and

government.• Schools re-opening has sent panic through parents• Orphaned children• Elections coming in 2017

Photo credit: WOMSUD

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International and National Efforts

Photo credit: CNN

Photo credit: Doctors without Borders

Photo credit: APPhoto credit: CDC

• U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

• The U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER)

• The University of Liberia • And more!

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International and National Efforts

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Photo credit: Getty Images

Photo credit: USAID

Photo credit: UN

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Liberia Summer 2016

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