Virtual Town Hall Meeting: Achieving Peace in Liberia

(A Press Release From United States Institute For Peace)

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia

January 31, 2004

Featuring:

Gyude Bryant Chairman

 

Charles Gyude Bryant is the newly designated leader of Liberia’s two-year transitional government. Known as “a man with no enemies,” he urged his predecessor Charles Taylor to talk to rebel groups. Widely seen as the most neutral of the candidates for Liberia’s new leadership, Bryant is a successful Monrovia businessman and chairman of the Liberia Action Party.“I see myself as a healer.”

At a peace conference in October 2003, warring factions in Liberia’s 14-year civil war chose Gyude Bryant as interim leader of the National Transitional Government of Liberia. Bryant will engage the Liberian diaspora in a web-based conversation about prospects for maintaining the peace in their war-weary homeland and what they can do to support it. Amb. Micheal Southwick, Africa specialist at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and Harry Grieves, economic adviser to Chairman Bryant, will moderate the event.

Chairman Bryant will speak briefly and invite questions from a virtual Liberian audience via email askusip@usip.org or phone 612-288-0329.

Event will be webcast on www.usip.org; Email live questions to askusip@usip.org; Phone 612-288-0329. Ensure software is downloaded and installed in advance of event! See guidance on how to access the webcast.

Chairman Bryant will briefly address the virtual community via broadcast over the Internet and then invite active participation from diaspora Liberians by email at askusip@usip.org or telephone 612-288-0329 (U.S. and international calls). When contacting the Institute, you are asked to identify the city from which you are calling, informing the number, if any, of friends gathered with you for the broadcast, and to be succinct in your inquiry. To enable the largest number of Liberians to contribute to the web conversation, no follow-up questions will be permitted.

Guidance on how to Access the Webcast

WEBCAST INFORMATION: While Institute webcasts are designed to be accessible to anyone with an Internet connection, a high-speed or broadband connection (cable modem, DSL, ISDN, satellite or network connection) is strongly recommended to participate in the webcast. As a suggestion, group viewings of the webcast arranged at libraries, college campuses, and community centers can provide both high speed Internet access and opportunities for local post-webcast discussion.

TO RECEIVE WEBCAST: All Institute webcasts in both audio and video (as well as archived* copies of past programming) are available only in QuickTime format. You will need to download and install QuickTime Player, available free from Apple http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ (Mac users will already have this installed as part of the iTunes package). Complete this step and then refer back to these instructions.

You are encouraged to verify correct installation by visiting the QuickTime Support page at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/troubleshooting/ If you see the blue, circular logo, this will verify that you have done the installation correctly. You can also refer to an archive of a previously webcast USIP event, such as "The Power to Protect," which can be found at http://www.usip.org/events/2003/0731_CIBrefugees.html (click on "Archived Audio and Video").

We recommend that you complete the download, installation, and verification at least 48 hours prior to a live broadcast.

On the day of the live webcast, go to http://www.usip.org, click on the front page highlight for the Liberia event, and follow the instructions for the webcast. It may be necessary to click on the "refresh" or "reload" button on your web browser in order to see the updated live link to the webcast. If on the day of the webcast you see the "Upcoming Webcast - Please Check Back" icon, you are looking at an old version of the page and you should “refresh” or “reload” in order to access the live webcast. If you are unsuccessful, it may be necessary to check with your Internet Service Provider, your in-house technical staff, or the Apple site www.apple.com to determine there are firewalls or other restrictions that prohibit your access. AOL users may experience difficulties accessing live webcasts due to current restrictions on the AOL network.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and more info about webcasting and the free software needed to run it can be found at http://www.usip.org/events/webcasts/faqs.html

During the live webcast, audio and/or video, Liberian listeners are welcome to send live email questions to panelists at <askusip@usip.org> or phone 612-288-0329 (U.S. and internationally).

* Events broadcast live on the Institute's website http://www.usip.org are archived at http://www.usip.org/events/webcasts/index.html