By Anne Sophie Ranjbar | Associate Director
2015 was a turbulent year in Liberia, with lingering effects from the Ebola crisis and clashes between citizens and the police. With your support, Accountability Lab's Community Justice Teams have given people in some of Monrovia’s poorest communities 24/7 access to justice.
They solved over one hundred cases—including domestic violence, unpaid loans, attempted rape, trespassing, disorderly conduct, child labor, and more. These cases saved citizens thousands of dollars in bond, writ, lawyer, messenger, and transportation fees—as well as a great deal of time.
For example, a man was confronted by local residents who claimed his cow had destroyed a woman’s sugar cane plants. As an increasingly hostile crowd surrounded the man and the argument intensified, our trusted mediators stepped in and peacefully resolved the issue—getting the cow owner to pay an acceptable amount for the damages before any violence ensued.
The Community Justice Teams also built trust and between the public and state institutions by collaborating directly with the police to defer or report cases; helped Ebola survivors overcome issues as they integrated back in the community; and conducted nonviolence workshops at schools. Learn more about the impact of their work in our latest Quarterly Impact Call, here.
Last month, we reached our goal of raising over $5,000 for the Community Justice Teams, and would like to thank you again for generous contributions that made this campaign a success! With these funds, we were not able to provide stipends and transportation for all these hardworking community volunteers, but also provide them with the identification cards, official T-shirts, a mega phone, smart phones, a laptop, and a new website to more effectively market, conduct and document their work.
Follow us on Facebook to get more updates on the Community Justice Teams; and if you would like to continue to support Accountability Lab’s efforts to overcome the difficult effects of the Ebola crisis, please consider donating to our Transforming Liberia Through Film project.
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By Anne Sophie Ranjbar | Project Leader
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