Darfur:famine Liberia:co-existence of violence and democracy complex emergencies

Running Head : Darfur and Liberia

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Abstract

The African continent has been home to some of the worst ethic conflicts in recent history . Two of these conflicts have been experienced in Liberia and the Darfur region of western Sudan . The Liberian conflict is arguably the longest running in Africa , and probably in the world . Ever since the country was established as the African home for freed slaves , the natives on the land and new comers have been fighting over leadership . The end result

has included lack of democratic institutions to help the country achieve founder 's goal of being a beacon of hope for the freed slaves . In Darfur , hunger and drought have exacerbated human suffering in the past two decades . Rather than facilitating an environment that would improve the situation , the government of Sudan has been blocking attempts by citizens and international well wishers to provide the much needed help . Human suffering in both Liberia and Darfur has greatly been influenced by state authorities that are supposed to be protecting citizens ' life liberty and property

Examination of the Co-Existence of Violence and Democracy in Liberia

Liberia has for two centuries been eloped by democracy and liberty that were supposed to be enjoyed by former slaves repatriated to the newly found country . Attempts by native inhabitants and repatriated slaves to build a nation have similarly become a disappointing process that is only beginning to bear fruits . The country 's inability to develop working democracy originates from the social , political and economic structures enforced by Americo-Liberians who immigrated into the county in 1822 upon repatriation from the Unites States . This scenario has since the country 's inception resulted to catastrophic struggle of power and leadership that has made it hard to establish democratic institutions . Concurrent sections of this chapter shall elaborate on the historical , economic , political , and social concerns that has facilitated to the current state democracy in the country . Addressing the concerns to be discussed below should form the basis of helping Liberia establish democratic institutions that will enable the country achieve its founders dream : to be the land of liberty

Historical Concerns

The history of Liberia runs parallel with that of slave African slave trade . Whereas the slave trade involved taking Africans from their mother land to the Americas , that of Liberia starts with repatriation of slave from some parts of the United States back to Africa (Firestone 1946 ,

. 76 . Indeed , Liberia was established in early 19th century as a place where African slaves who wanted to go back home . 1822 was the initial year that first Africans were repatriated into Liberia . However not many slaves were provided with this opportunity , considering that the United States did not end slave trade until late 19th century during the American civil war . Therefore , going back to African for the few slaves that had the opportunity was seen as a great privilege that many were quick to snap . This was indeed a great opportunity to connect with...