A high-ranking government official from Sierra Leone has told an international churches team visiting his country and in Liberia that the world needs to get behind urgently needed peace-building efforts.

In Liberia, Sierra Leone and South Africa, churches have played a major role in reconciliation between groups who had been in violent conflict for decades. Two international ecumenical teams sent by the World Council of Churches will visit the three countries during the next two weeks.

A national grassroots campaign mounted by Jubilee USA, the international humanitarian agency, Church World Service (the ecumenical Christian relief network) and allied organizations is urging Americans to send Valentine's Day wishes to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, asking him to have a heart and cancel Liberia's 3.5 billion dollar debt.

The first all-women peacekeeping unit has begun work in Liberia, joining the United Nations Peacekeeping operations. Though they are well armed, they are also developing the use of unarmed and non-violent interventions, “changing the balance of approach”, some experts say.