Building on Our Gains, Preparing for the Future

Madam Decontee E. George, CPS Network Coordinator, reflects on a first half of 2026 marked by loss, learning, challenges and renewed commitment to locally led peacebuilding in Liberia.

She recalls the passing of Coordinator Emeritus Mr. Joseph D. Howard, whose years of service and leadership helped shape the CPS Network. As the Network looks ahead, she emphasizes the need to sustain peacebuilding gains in a changing donor environment by making better use of existing resources, strengthening partnerships, investing in local capacity and demonstrating impact.

A key resource in this effort is the Network’s Community of Practice (CoP), comprising nine Liberian trainers and practitioners who have received more than six years of training and mentoring in Do No Harm, Reflecting on Peace Practice, Open Space Technology, Mediation and Advocacy. Madam Decontee describes this locally owned expertise as an important foundation for sustainability:

“Sustainability is not only about money. It is about relationships, knowledge, local leadership, credibility, learning, and the ability to demonstrate impact.”

Across the Network, partners continue to advance work in land rights governance, youth empowerment, psychosocial support and somatic therapy, gender justice, positive masculinity, drug-law advocacy and community awareness.

Women and young people remain central to these efforts, with 30 women participating in the Network’s International Women’s Day engagement. The Network is also exploring a consortium to bring partners and other actors together around conflict-sensitive issues and collective responses. These efforts reinforce the CPS Network Roadmap 2026, “Sustaining Our Impact and Preparing for the Future.”

Looking beyond Liberia, the Network is strengthening regional learning and collaboration through the African CPS Coordinators’ Peer Learning Initiative in Bafoussam, Cameroon, bringing together coordinators from Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon to share experiences on women and trauma healing in contexts of violence.

The Network also collaborated with Agiamondo around the International Day of Peace and participated in the CPS Mano River Partners Meeting in Sierra Leone.

As Madam Decontee notes, “peacebuilding does not stop at national borders.” She expresses appreciation to Civil Peace Service, Bread for the World and Network partners for their continued commitment to locally led peacebuilding and for helping sustain the relationships, knowledge and collective action needed to build lasting peace.