{"id":13728,"date":"2026-09-28T15:09:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T15:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/?p=13728"},"modified":"2026-09-28T16:55:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T16:55:02","slug":"sustaining-peace-strengthening-partnerships-a-message-from-the-cps-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/sustaining-peace-strengthening-partnerships-a-message-from-the-cps-coordinator\/","title":{"rendered":"Building on Our Gains, Preparing for the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>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.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"892\" height=\"878\" src=\"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madam-Decontee-E.-George-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13729\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madam-Decontee-E.-George-1.jpg 892w, https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madam-Decontee-E.-George-1-300x295.jpg 300w, https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madam-Decontee-E.-George-1-768x756.jpg 768w, https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madam-Decontee-E.-George-1-76x75.jpg 76w, https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madam-Decontee-E.-George-1-731x720.jpg 731w, https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madam-Decontee-E.-George-1-686x675.jpg 686w, https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Madam-Decontee-E.-George-1-480x472.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width:767px) 480px, (max-width:892px) 100vw, 892px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>CPS Liberia Network Coordinator, Madam Decontee E. George<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A key resource in this effort is the Network\u2019s 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cSustainability is not only about money. It is about relationships, knowledge, local leadership, credibility, learning, and the ability to demonstrate impact<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Women and young people remain central to these efforts, with 30 women participating in the Network\u2019s International Women\u2019s 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, <em>\u201cSustaining Our Impact and Preparing for the Future.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking beyond Liberia, the Network is strengthening regional learning and collaboration through the African CPS Coordinators\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Network also collaborated with Agiamondo around the International Day of Peace and participated in the CPS Mano River Partners Meeting in Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Madam Decontee notes,<strong> <\/strong>\u201cpeacebuilding does not stop at national borders.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":13729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[283],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liberia-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13728"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13737,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13728\/revisions\/13737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}