540 [Liberia: Legacies of Peace Documentary Short Film Series]

The Armed Forces of Liberia was disbanded in its entirety after the war because the incoming government suspected that AFL soldiers were too loyal to the ousted leader and war criminal, Charles Taylor. Demobilized en masse, the soldiers received $540 US dollars and were told to wait for further reintegration support. 540 visits the squatter settlement that hundreds of these demobilized soldiers built on a swamp in Monrovia which they named Peace Island. They describe the bitter disappointments of their experience with military downsizing and ask what should happen when international promises are broken.

This documentary short film forms part of the series, Liberia: Legacies of Peace, funded by a grant from the SFC ODA Global Challenges Research Fund. The film has been screened internationally at the invitation of universities, think tanks, and development agencies, including at a special invited screening and lecture presentation at the Folke Bernadotte Academy, the Swedish government agency for peace, security and development in May 2019. The screening led to a senior SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) arranging a meeting between me and the leader of the Liberian military to discuss the policy recommendations for security sector reform and reintegration support coming out of the film.