ABSTRACT
The previous chapter chronicled the major developments in Liberia’s protracted civil conflict and the UN peace operation deployed there. In particular, it identified the importance of the decaying security sector as both a cause and consequence of the conflagrations and the centrality of UNPOL efforts to visions of sustainable peace in Liberia. Building on this analysis, the purpose of this chapter is to examine the extent to which the framework developed in chapter 4 helps to overcome practical challenges in the field. The case of UNMIL in Liberia demonstrates many of the issues germane to the challenge of M&E in peace operations deployed to conflict-affected settings. That is to say, the environment and mission type display many of the characteristics that make M&E in peace operations uniquely difficult. Furthermore, the UNPOL mandate is broadly reflective of police peacekeeping in most contemporary UN missions.
