A couple of weeks ago, the Swedish government announced the closure of the Swedish embassy in Liberia and the end to over ten years of bilateral development cooperation. In this think-piece, Charles Lawrence, a former member of the Embassy team, reflects on the blue, yellow-crossed footsteps that Sweden leaves behind and hopes that Sweden and Liberia will nurture the legacy of Swedish development cooperation long after the Embassy closes its doors.
- I see that you have worked in several places outside Liberia, tell us what you have learned and how this will contribute to the work of the Embassy.
I am in the third round of interviews. This time with the Head of Mission of the Swedish Embassy near Monrovia. At that time, the Embassy was not fully accredited and operated under delegated authority from Stockholm.
A few years later, Sweden would invest in building the premises that now host the soon-to-be-closed Embassy. Today I sit and write this with sadness as I would come to witness firsthand the dedication and devotion of many Swedes serving in Liberia.
I responded that my prior work internationally in varied contexts such as Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sierra Leone and the UK had allowed me to learn and to grow; to become more self-aware of my strengths and weaknesses. How that had provided me with the skills, tools and values needed to operate within an international context such as the Embassy of Sweden.
I got the job, and for more than a decade, I worked at the Swedish Embassy as the Program Officer for Democratic Governance and Human Rights.
This experience has shaped my personal and professional life in profound ways, and I am highly grateful to Sweden for giving me this opportunity. I have witnessed firsthand how Sweden cares. Its development assistance was more than the financial resources. It was accompanied by competent development experts who inspired change through example and made decisions only through careful, thorough, and methodical rigor.'
Blue and yellow-crossed footprints everywhere
One day, my daughter asked me: “Dad, what do you do at the Embassy?”
I replied that we were a bit like magicians. We peer into the future and attempt to shape it. This was possible because evidence came first – before gut feeling and emotion – and that quality assurance was a prerequisite for any undertaking.
An enormous support to state-building was the focus of the initial Swedish post-war development cooperation. From this effort, snippets of change have emerged. Liberia's democratic foundations have remained steady in a region grappling with democratic rollback and unconstitutional takeovers. Next year, Liberia will take a seat on the UN Security Council. This marks a significant shift; our country goes from being an agenda item discussed by others to a country sitting at the table where the global security agenda is set.
Sweden must take pride in its stride; its blue, yellow-crossed footprint everywhere in Liberia. To many Liberians, Sweden's kind of diplomatic soft power acted as a guiding light during our country's darkest periods: civil wars and two global pandemics – Ebola and COVID-19.
The Swedish contributions are many:
- Sweden chaired the Liberia configuration of the UN Peace Building Fund.
- Through the Folke Bernadotte Academy Sweden supported justice and security sector reform.
- Sweden contributed troops to the UN peacekeeping mission
- Swedish police officers provided technical support to the rebuilding of the Liberia National Police.
- Lantmäteriet, the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority, built capacity in land administration and the Swedish Tax Authority supported efficient tax administration to improve domestic revenue generation.
- Swedish civil society supported women and youth organizations, and expanded the landscape for the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
At this important time of geopolitical tensions, Liberia's representation on the UN Security Council should uphold Swedish values.
The values that Sweden transmitted through its presence were as important as its funding. Sweden became the strongest voice for gender equality in Liberia, and helped build significant momentum. This can now be witnessed in the active and flourishing work of women and girls in civil society and public life.
Liberia must sustain this progress so that women and girls do not suffer roll back because their strongest ally is pulling out.
A meticulous and humble leadership
My first assignment at the Embassy was to manage the closure of the Swedish support to Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This was a post-war body that received assistance from Sweden to document the causes of the Liberian civil wars and to make recommendations to avert future occurrences.
What soon became apparent to me was how Sweden's strong attention to detail, to organization of information, and archiving was part and parcel of an overall commitment to transparency. All paperwork had to be orderly arranged for future reference.
As I was poring through pages and pages of documents, I was reminded of the gravity of Liberia's unfinished business of justice and accountability, and the importance of building strong governance institutions and an independent civil society.
Years later, still in my role as program officer at the Embassy, I would meet survivors of massacres who, with the passing of time, have become emboldened to unite their collective voices for justice and accountability. Their courage was inspiring, and hearing their stories put the horrid statistics on those pages into real context.
New to the Embassy work in 2011, I had the task of updating the Head of Mission on the 2011 election process. We came late from a meeting and entered the Embassy premises, where we found a leaky pipe and water on the floor.
As I went to find the maintenance people, Klas, the Head of Mission, immediately began mopping up the water. So, I joined him, and I learned that leadership is not a title; it is a responsibility that must be taken up wherever one is, with whatever one has, to solve a pressing problem.
The Swedish way can be described as a simple, pragmatic, solution-focused leadership driven by values. No institution, no society, no country fails when it upholds certain principal values. Among them are inclusion, equality, respect for human rights, justice, openness and accountability, sustainability, and respect for diversity.
As Sweden, a caring partner, now announces its departure, here is my ask: prioritize constructive dialogue with Liberia with the aim of identifying where and how critical gains can be maintained.
This is a guest column. The writer is responsible for analysis and opinions in the text.
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