A UN Soldier stands guard outside opening of an Ebola virus clinic sponsored by China, in Monrovia, Liberia, November, 2014. Abbas Dulleh / Press Association. All rights reserved. Liberia has had more than a decade to plan for the day when international peacekeepers in blue helmets and their civilian counterparts would eventually pack up and leave.
So, it was with a mix of uncertainty and resolve that our small sliver of a country bid farewell to the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) on June 30 – nearly 13 years after UN Security Council Resolution 1509 was passed, calling for 15,000 military personnel to maintain law and order.
Back then, Liberia and its people were war-weary and battle-scarred. Post-Ebola, we are just beginning to piece together the remnants of normalcy in the midst of a region wracked by extremism. Whether this is our lucky or unlucky thirteenth year remains to be seen.
