ABSTRACT

This chapter investigates the role played by the non-government organizations (NGOs) in the management of Liberia's complex emergency. It discusses the unfolding controversy on NGOs' involvement in the affairs of Africa's failed states. The chapter discusses the relationship between the NGOs and ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL), successive transitional governments and with the Liberian factions. It also discusses the consequences of the April 1996 crisis on the NGO community in Liberia and other problems experienced by the NGOs operating in the conflict. The NGOs which operated in the Liberian emergency could be divided into three categories. First were the international relief and disaster organizations. The second were UN relief agencies. The third were mainly local NGOs, some of which emerged as a result of the civil war or had their activities resuscitated because of the civil war exigencies.