Despite being rich in mineral resources, the towns of Zolowee and Gbassa face significant socioeconomic challenges, including limited employment and livelihood opportunities, especially for young people, domestic violence, and land conflicts, including boundary disputes and concessionaires' irregular payment of land rental fees. These issues are in tandem with the Consolidated County Reconciliation Plan, developed for the 15 counties in 2020, and are elaborated factors that threaten and undermine peace and social cohesion in Liberia, including Nimba. 

Zolowee and Gbassa in Sanniquellie-Mah District, Nimba County, Northeastern Liberia, share a common border, heritage, tradition, and family in communities hosting Mount Nimba, where the global steel giant ArcelorMittal mines iron ore, approximately 260km away from Monrovia and home to nearly one thousand residents. 

However, both have had a long-standing boundary dispute that undermines their peaceful coexistence. The two communities were often involved in land conflicts, resulting in deep animosity and sometimes fights among residents.

The Peace Dividend project interventions have proved worthwhile for people living in Zolowee and Gbassa. This project is titled “Delivering Peace Dividends in Liberia: Consolidating National, Regional and Local Reconciliation and Social Cohesion Opportunities” and is funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and partners. 

Efforts by the project to promote social cohesion, peace, and reconciliation were executed through peace education awareness and dialogues, stakeholders and community engagements, training on non-violent approaches to dispute and conflict resolution, and providing livelihood opportunities.

Women and youth encouraged by local leaders, overwhelmingly participated in the process that led to the peaceful resolution of the boundary dispute between Zolowee and Gbassa communities in Nimba County following a series of dialogues.

The signing of an MoU between the two communities on June 4, 2024, paved the way for a boundary harmonization survey conducted on August 5, 2024, by the Government of Liberia through the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) under the auspices of the County Authority.

“The day the survey took place was one of the happiest days for us in Zolowee. This project has helped us solve one of the long-standing problems among us and our relatives in Gbassa,” Francis Gongar former Town Chief of Zolowee said. 

Peace was restored after the survey and the issuance of customary land deeds, officially identifying and recognizing demarcations, between the two communities. 

“Indeed, we are overjoyed to see brothers and sisters in Gbassa living together in peace. We are the same people. People from Zolowee married women from Gbassa and people from Gbassa also married people from here. This is a great victory for the two towns. We appreciate the efforts made through the project to help us solve this long-standing dispute,” said Thomas Mawean, CLDMC Chairman, of Zolowee.

Additionally, the community’s consistent engagement with ArcelorMittal through dialogues held in concession areas facilitated a peaceful resolution on payment of land rental fees and employment opportunities for residents of affected communities in concession areas.

These engagements supported by the project, in partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs now local government, county authorities, CSOs including Naymote, and other partners helped nudge the company to take measures to address some of the issues.

The Former Town Chief of Zolowee Francis Gongar explained “ArcelorMittal is doing well. The problem of unemployment is being addressed with the announcement and posting of vacancies in the communities and the hiring of qualified individuals. “Subcontracting companies are now recruiting people from the communities. Our relationship with the company is peaceful and more cordial”. 

The project has also provided grants to 20 established women and youth groups including people with disabilities, to scale their businesses and strengthen women-led enterprises through training, mentoring, and coaching. Opportunities provided for 1000 women through the Village Savings and Loan Schemes (VSLAs) have minimized women’s vulnerabilities and created an environment for economic empowerment, social cohesion, and peace. 

Kou Dahn, Head of the Zolowee Women Group stated “We thank UNDP, Naymote, and the donor PBF for training us and providing the grant needed to establish our businesses and purchase farming materials for our gardens. Additionally, we are using the knowledge and ideas acquired from the training to sustain peace in our community”. 

Overall, the Peace Dividend Project has promoted social cohesion and reconciliation and consolidated peace by supporting an inclusive process towards more effective local and national reconciliation, informed by political and community-level dialogues. It has also helped to implement the County Reconciliation Plans through tangible peace dividend initiatives in marginalized communities at risk of increasing tensions due to frustrations with their level of development and inclusion and due to the risk of political manipulation.

“We appreciate UNDP and its partners for the training and the grant. They have even constructed a hall for us to meet, discuss issues affecting our communities, and find solutions. These interventions have contributed to strengthening peace among us. Our community (Zolowee) is much more peaceful today than a few years ago,” stressed Matilda Zuweh, a member of the Zolowee Women Group.

Under the project, UNDP and the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), working with national government and civil society partners, support inclusive dialogues and strengthen policies, systems, and plans to promote peace, social cohesion, and reconciliation. UNDP also implements a scheme (the Peace Dividends Grant Facility) that provides and uses socioeconomic and livelihood interventions to respond to the problem of limited livelihood and job opportunities identified as some of the conflict factors that undermine peace and social cohesion in Liberia.

In particular, the project has established and/or strengthened 28 women groups and 5 youth groups comprising more than 1000 members in Lofa, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Rivercess, Sinoe, and Montserrado Counties and supported 26 small, peace dividends grant facility projects aimed at uniting communities, reconciling the people and consolidating peace. 

The project trained groups on non-violent approaches to conflict/dispute resolution and business management skills, enabling them to conduct dialogues and mediation to resolve disputes, educate communities, and promote peaceful coexistence and social cohesion.

Under the peace dividends grant facility, the community members identified their projects to promote socio-economic development. These included tangible infrastructures such as women's and youth halls, markets and schools, and mini-factories with rice production equipment and gari milling machines. 

The project has also supported the Liberian Government in developing a National Policy on Reconciliation and strengthened the national capacity to promote and advance reconciliation, setting the tone and guiding reconciliation efforts in the country. 

Poverty, limited livelihood, and job opportunities are connected to conflict. Hence, the project’s, empowerment interventions for youth, women, chiefs, local authorities, PWDs, and other stakeholders in conflict-prone communities have minimized the potential for violence and conflict in targeted communities, reduced conflicts, and promoted peace and social cohesion.

“Although we still face challenges with drug abuse, we are excited to experience peace. Our community is more peaceful today than it was sometime in the past. We don’t experience the kinds of disputes we used to in the past. So, thanks to UNDP and partners for the support,” says Francis Gongar, the former Town chief, Zolowee.