At his inauguration in January this year President Joseph Boakai became the latest Liberian leader to announce bold new initiatives to end corruption at the start of his administration. But Liberians have seen decades of endemic corruption, with few attempts to hold accused officials accountable. So most took a wait and see approach at this…
By: R. Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives Todee, Liberia – Fourteen-year-old Emmanuel Yarsiah would rather be on the football field, playing with his friends. But instead, he’s working long hours as a coal burner with his mother, toting heavy logs in excessive heat. “I suffering to haul water, cut grass, haul the coal, dig it,…
The long‑standing practice of forcing underage children into hazardous labor continues to endanger young lives across Liberia, with little accountability for those responsible. As highlighted in a report by Tetee Gebro in collaboration with Okay FM, the issue persists despite clear data from international partners showing its severity. While the impacts on children are profound…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives PAYNESVILLE, Montserrado —A local adoption agency with partners in the United States has been shut down and an arrest warrant issued for its Liberian and American heads and four local staff, according to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. The ministry, which supervises adoption agencies and orphanages…
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon with New Narratives DUPORT ROAD, Paynesville – For the last three years 17-year-old Lusu has been living a hellish existence, trying to keep herself and her two babies alive, by selling the only thing she has of value: sex. Like a growing number of children living on Liberia’s streets, Lusu…
Liberia is facing a quiet but devastating hunger crisis, and women and children are suffering the most. In communities like West Point, mothers often survive on just one meal a day so their children can eat, while many families scrape by through informal work that barely covers a few cups of rice. Liberia ranks 112th…
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate correspondent with New Narratives Summary WEST POINT, Monrovia – Favor James wakes up every morning thinking about water. Not drinking it but selling it – cold water in plastic bags that she hawks on Kru Beach here in the capitals’ largest informal settlement, for a few coins. Born with limited…
By Tetee Gebro, New Narratives health correspondent Summary : PENSON TOWN, Montserrado – It was the end of another long Sunday morning for this grandmother, panning through mud in a stream here trying to find enough specks of gold to feed her eight grandchildren. As she walked into the bush on her way to the…
A 57‑year‑old grandmother from rural Montserrado is fighting for justice after surviving rape, but the system meant to protect her has instead demanded illegal fees and placed heavy burdens on her. Her experience highlights how corruption and poverty continue to block many rural women from accessing justice in Liberia, turning an already painful situation into…
By Tetee Gebro, gender reporter with New Narratives Summary: The Liberian government has approved an emergency relocation for the family of an eight-year-old rape survivor after her mother reported intimidation, unauthorized filming, and repeated visits by strangers following media coverage of the case. Officials say the intervention was driven by safety concerns, underscoring both the real risks…
The lawyer for a 14-year-old rape survivor challenges the credibility of police conclusions that cleared former government official Bryant McGill, calling for full transparency in an investigation that many fear undermines trust in Liberia’s justice system. Tetee Gebro reports in this social media Video. To read more about this story click this link: Liberia: Lawyer for…
By Anthony Stephens, senior correspondent with New Narratives Summary In a surprising concession, Leymah Gbowee, Liberia’s internationally renowned peace activist, has said that she has revised her prior criticisms of the government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who left office after two six-year terms in 2018. In an exclusive interview with FrontPage Africa, Gbowee, who shared the…
A new global report ranks Liberia among the top ten countries where people experience the most sadness and worry. Experts say women make up most of the number. As reporter Tetee Gebro tells us in this collaboration with Okay FM, women are carrying the heaviest burden caught between survival and stress in a country still…
By Joyclyn Wea and Tetee Gebro with New Narratives Summary: MOUNT BARCLAY, Montserrado County- Each morning, as the sun climbs over here, Kebbeh Kollie grips a sledgehammer and strikes stone. The sharp clang echoes through the quarry near Mount Barclay, a rhythm of survival. For three years, the 40-year-old single mother has crushed rocks to…
In 2025 New Narratives worked with digital transformation specialists InOldNews on a pilot project to boost the audience engagement and independent revenue of Liberia’s leading newsroom Front Page Africa. This final report showed impressive results that offer ideas for other newsrooms in low and lower-middle income countries….
A groundbreaking pilot project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, shows that AI and other new digital tools present promising new options for financial independence in West Africa’s leading newsrooms….
New Narratives kicked off phase two of our Clean Air Reporting Project in August. The project will continue its successful partnership with Joy News, one of the country’s leading news organizations. Joy reporter Michael Asharley will be Joy’s New Narratives air pollution/climate change beat reporter. Michael will also host the Joy/New Narratives weekly radio program…
New Narratives is proud to share that our reporter Albert Oppong-Ansah, editor with Ghana News Agency, has won the prestigious Eric and Wendy Schmidt Prize for Excellence in Science Journalism. Albert won the award for three stories that he did with New Narratives as part of our groundbreaking clean air reporting project with support from…
New Narratives, with support from the Swedish government, has partnered with InOldNews, a consultancy led by Manon Verchot and Sanshey Biswas, to transform our news partners’ businesses to take advantage of new sources of independent revenue….
Dr. Jallah Allen Barbu, a former presidential candidate and dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law of the University of Liberia, has pledged to work with everyone as the new Executive Director of the Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts….
Liberia’s new public health law, which was passed by the House of Representatives in 2022, is currently being debated in a special session by the Senate where it is facing a barrage of opposition from abortion opponents. A provision in the bill, which contains a range of other public health elements, would make abortion legal up to 18 weeks of pregnancy as long as it is done by a doctor, the most liberal in Africa….
