Health and Education Archives

As Sexual and Reproductive Rights Coalition Marks Five Years, Senate Delay Keeps Abortion Provision of Public Health Bill in Limbo

Liberia’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights Coalition has spent five years shifting public attitudes, training young people, and building support for reproductive health. Despite these achievements, the coalition’s central demand—the inclusion of abortion access in the stalled Public Health Bill—remains unresolved due to Senate delays, leaving women vulnerable and pushing activists to call for stronger local…

Joyclyn Wea
Video

As Sexual and Reproductive Rights Coalition Marks Five Years, Senate Delay Keeps Abortion Provision of Public Health Bill in Limbo

By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Five years ago, organizations working on sexual and reproductive health across Liberia reached the same conclusion: acting alone was not enough. With funding from the Swedish government, they formed the Amplifying Rights Network, a coalition that has since trained community leaders, mobilized thousands of citizens, and…

Joyclyn Wea
Frontpage Africa

As Other African Nations Reject U.S. Health Deal, Liberia’s Agreement Faces New Scrutiny

Liberia’s new five‑year, US$124 million health compact with the U.S. is drawing sharp scrutiny as other African nations reject similar deals over concerns about data sovereignty, specimen sharing, and funding obligations. Civil society groups warn that the agreement could give U.S. entities long‑term access to sensitive health information without adequate safeguards, while shifting financial burdens…

Joyclyn Wea
Video

Emergency Childbirth Fees Push Poor Families To Fundraise During Labor, Leading to Deaths

For most families, the birth of a child is a moment of joy and anticipation. But when complications arise, that joy can quickly turn into tragedy.Across Liberia, patients and health workers say the inability to pay emergency care costs are leading to death and injury for mothers and babies.As Fatu Kamara reports in this collaboration…

Fatu Kamara
Radio

As Other African Nations Reject U.S. Health Deal, Liberia’s Agreement Faces New Scrutiny

By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Ghana has become the third African country to reject a proposed U.S. health agreement, with government officials saying the deal would have given U.S. entities broad access to sensitive national health data, including metadata and analytical tools, without sufficient safeguards or prior approval. The deal included provisions that…

Joyclyn Wea
Frontpage Africa

As Vaccine Aid Is Cut, a Remote Measles Outbreak Shows What’s at Risk

A measles outbreak struck Kiangia Town in January, moving silently from home to home before families realized what was happening. With clinics closed or lacking medicine, parents and grandparents relied on traditional remedies like leaves, honey, and alcohol, which experts say offered no protection. One child, Samuel, just four years old, died, while others suffered…

Tetee Gebro
Video

In Major Shift, Coalition of Religious Leaders Urges Passage of Bill to Extend Abortion Access

Liberia’s Inter-Religious Council, the umbrella body representing the country’s major Christian and Muslim institutions, is urging lawmakers to pass a stalled health bill that would expand access to abortion in certain cases, breaking with years of opposition to the measure by religious leaders. Supporters say the bill is needed to reduce deaths and injuries from…

Joyclyn Wea
Video

As Vaccine Aid Is Cut, a Remote Measles Outbreak Shows What’s at Risk

By Tetee Gebro and Joyclyn Wea, gender and health correspondents with New Narratives Summary KIANGIA TOWN, Todee District — The measles came to this town in January. Nobody announced it. Nobody warned families here. It moved quietly from home to home, the way measles does — through the air, between children playing; spreading before anyone understood…

Tetee Gebro and Joyclyn Wea
Frontpage Africa

In Major Shift, Coalition of Religious Leaders Urges Passage of Bill to Extend Abortion Access

By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: In a major boost to efforts to pass a health bill that would expand access to abortion in Liberia, the Inter-Religious Council, the umbrella body representing the country’s major Christian and Muslim institutions, has called on lawmakers to pass the legislation, breaking with years of religious…

Joyclyn Wea
Frontpage Africa

Thousands of Liberian Women Suffer a Preventable Birth Injury While Care Lags Decades Behind

Thousands of Liberian women suffer silently from obstetric fistula, a preventable childbirth injury that leaves them leaking urine or feces for years, often in isolation, because maternal health care in Liberia lags decades behind. Despite the fact that 80% of cases could be prevented with timely medical care, limited facilities, poor referral systems, and lack…

Augusta Lafalay
Video

Taxed Into Shame: Ghana Gives Free Pads, Liberian Girls Cut Up Diapers

In Liberia, many schoolgirls are forced to cut baby diapers in half or use cloth during their periods because sanitary pads are taxed at 30 percent, making them unaffordable. While Ghana has already taken bold steps to provide free pads to schoolgirls, Liberia’s proposed bill to remove taxes on menstrual products remains stalled in committee,…

Joyclyn Wea
Video

Taxed Into Shame: Ghana Gives Free Pads, Liberian Girls Cut Up Diapers

By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: CESTOS CITY, River Cess County — W. knows what to do when her period comes, and there is no money for pads. She buys baby diapers. We are calling all the girls in the story by their initials to prevent them from further stigma and shame….

Joyclyn Wea
Frontpage Africa

Thousands of Liberian Women Suffer a Preventable Birth Injury While Care Lags Decades Behind

By Augusta S. Lafalay with New Narratives Summary: For fourteen years, S. said she woke up every morning to wet and smelly sheets. She had no name for what was wrong with her. She had no doctor to visit, no clinic that could help. All she had was shame — and silence. It started with…

Augusta S. Lafalay
Frontpage Africa

The Cost of Silence: Girls Across Liberia Say a Lack of Sex Education Is Changing the Course of Their Lives

Across Liberia, nine out of ten young people grow up without basic sex education, leaving girls vulnerable to teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortions, and poverty. A recent investigation highlights stories like Benetta’s, who became pregnant at 17 without knowing how pregnancy occurs, and Mamia’s, who dropped out of school after early motherhood. With one in three…

Tetee Gebro
Video

The Cost of Silence: GirlsAcross Liberia Say a Lack of Sex Education Is Changing the Course of Their Lives

By Tetee Gebro, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: BENSONVILLE, Montserrado — Benetta was 17 when she first became pregnant. No one had ever explained sex, contraception, or how pregnancy happens to her. People in her community started talking and urged her to visit a clinic. A nurse told her she would be a mother…

Tetee Gebro
Frontpage Africa

Nine Out of Every Ten Women Take Antibiotic Every Month a Survey Finds: Experts Describe Findings as ‘Catastrophic’ For All Liberians

A new survey shows 9 out of 10 Liberian women take antibiotics monthly after their period—often without prescriptions. Experts call the practice catastrophic, warning it fuels antibiotic resistance and threatens public health nationwide. Gloria Wleh reports in this social media Video. To read more about this story click this link: Liberia: Nine Out of Every…

Gloria Wleh
Video

Tightens Controls on Abortion Drug — But Women’s Groups Warn Against Blocking Access to Care

Liberia has restricted misoprostol sales to prescriptions only, citing safety concerns. But women’s groups warn that tighter controls could worsen maternal deaths in a country already facing one of the world’s highest rates. Over 38,000 pregnancies ended in abortion in 2021—most with serious complications. Joyclyn Wea reports in this social media Video. To read more…

Joyclyn Wea
Video

Nine Out of Every Ten Women Take Antibiotic Every Month a Survey Finds: Experts Describe Findings as ‘Catastrophic’ For All Liberians

By Gloria Wleh with New Narratives Summary: DUAZON, Margibi County — On a recent weekday, L. had just ended her four days of monthly menstruation. The next day the 18-year-old walked into a small drug store beside the main road here as she does every month. With no prescription, she asked the drug dispenser for…

Gloria Wleh
Frontpage Africa

How Doctors In Ghana Are Leading The Fight Against Household Air Pollution

By JENNIFER AMBOLLEY with New Narratives POKUASE, Accra- Every evening, as the sun began to fade over her neighborhood, Grace Antwi would prepare dinner on her narrow porch. The charcoal stove sat low to the ground, thin grey smoke curling into the air. For years, this was how cooking was done — her seven-year-old daughter…

Jennifer Ambolley
The Chronicle

Funding Cuts, Weak Oversight, And Hidden Traps: Experts Sound the Alarm on Liberia’s New U.S. Health Deal

Liberia’s new U.S. health deal is being sold as progress, but experts warn it may leave the country more vulnerable than ever. Funding for lifesaving programs has been slashed, oversight is weaker, and critical services for women and families could disappear just when Liberians need them most. Even more alarming, the agreement gives the U.S….

Joyclyn Wea
Video

Funding Cuts, Weak Oversight, And Hidden Traps: Experts Sound the Alarm on Liberia’s New U.S. Health Deal

By Joyclyn Wea, health reporter and New Narratives editors Summary: Late last year, the government of Liberia signed a five-year health agreement with the United States. President Joseph Boakai’s administration celebrated the deal as a step toward taking control of the country’s own health system. But health experts, former U.S. government officials, and civil society groups are raising serious…

Joyclyn Wea
Frontpage Africa