Refugee Resettlement In Liberia

The long-running civil war in Liberia resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians as they fled the violence and fighting. To provide critical information to these refugees, SFCG used both radio programs produced by TDS and supporting drama performances targeted specifically at refugees. In light of the regional nature of the Mano River Union refugee situation covering Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, SFCG adopted a regional strategy for its work, airing programs across borders to reach those in need. In a survey of SFCG’s refugee activities, conducted in August 2007, it was concluded that the work performed by SFCG was highly effective in ensuring that refugees were aware of their options regarding repatriation and had enough information about development in Liberia and their communities to support their decision to return home.

The survey concluded the following:

• The information provided by SFCG was thought to be truthful by most returnees (94%) who mentioned security, repatriation and community rehabilitation information as most useful.

• Focus group participants specifically mentioned hearing about land conflict solutions and hearing family members on the radio and reports of one-on-one conversations with TDS drama artists as influential in helping refugees to make the decision to return to Liberia.

• The information source that was the most effective across all areas was drama, which was seen or heard by most (91%) respondents and, of those, most (95%) said the information they got from drama was good or excellent.  

• Only a small number of refugees who returned felt that they did not have adequate information or that the information they heard while in exile was not found to be true when they returned home.

The exercise allowed staff involved in developing the programming to see the results of their work and have an opportunity to understand which activities were more effective and which were less so. This learning will allow SFCG staff to continue to develop and implement programming that meets the needs of various target groups in the region. Click here to read the key findings from the post implementation survey [pdf].