Unusual rains in January have flooded streets and fields across Liberia, disrupting what should be a dry season and prompting warnings from the Environmental Protection Agency that these erratic weather patterns are a clear sign of a deepening climate crisis, threatening agriculture, infrastructure, and the lives of families already living on the frontlines of climate…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Joseph Boakai, Liberia’s President, offered a special prayer for the nation at a national service Wednesday at the Effort Baptist Church in Paynesville, where Boakai also serves as a deacon. As Liberians with formal employment took advantage of a surprise last minute public holiday, the president…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives President Joseph Boakai announced his government would soon commission a national war memorial to honor the victims of Liberia’s brutal civil wars and the peacekeepers from the Economic Community of West African States who died in the conflicts. The president made the announcement during the official celebration of…
By Anthony Stephens senior justice correspondent with New Narratives The Office of Liberia’s War and Economics Crimes Court launched its official outreach campaign at an event at the Office’s headquarters in Mamba Point, Monrovia on Saturday, despite having still received none of the $US2 million in funding promised by President Boakai in April. The campaign…
By Anthony Stephens, senior correspondent with New Narratives For years people who wanted to donate money to nonprofits in Europe or the U.S.A have been able to do so with the click of a button on their computer or phone through well-known platforms such as GoFundMe and GlobalGiving. Now a new platform is allowing people…
By Anthony Stephens, senior correspondent with New Narratives Mark Toner, the United States Ambassador to Liberia, is retiring from his role less a year into what was to be a two-year post. His announcement to embassy staff on Tuesday, came as a surprise, particularly as it came just a day before Liberia President Joseph Boakai…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives President Joseph Boakai has issued an official apology on behalf of the Liberian nation “to every victim of our civil conflict”— ending more than two decades of waiting by victims, survivors and advocates seeking accountability for wartime atrocities. The president apologized on Saturday during a state-sponsored “National…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives The Trump administration’s sweeping freezes on foreign aid continue to undermine a range of programs in heavily aid dependent Liberia. The cuts to health, education and agriculture have received substantial attention but cuts to the country’s anti-human trafficking work has so far gone unnoticed. Now…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Leading Liberian human rights organizations have praised the government for symbolically reburying Samuel Kanyon Doe and William Richard Tolbert, the country’s two presidents who were separately killed while in office. Doe, who ended more than a century of Americo-Liberian dominance by a military coup in 1980 was…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives The Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia has formally submitted a national roadmap for the country’s transitional justice process to President Joseph Boakai, a move experts say is a key step toward long-delayed accountability for war-era atrocities and systemic corruption. Among the…
By Anthony Stephens, senior correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Liberia has been included on a proposed list of 51 countries that have been identified by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to accept deportees, including criminals, who are not their own citizens, according to the New York Times, a U.S. media outlet. The effort is part…
The U.S. embassy in Monrovia says the social media accounts of all applicants will be screened and approved before their travel. By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: The U.S. embassy in Monrovia has “requested” all visa applicants from Liberia to change their social media settings from private to “public to facilitate vetting necessary to…
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…
By Anthony Stephens, senior correspondent with New Narratives President Joseph Boakai has set up a high-level task force in response to reports that Liberia could be among dozens of countries targeted in a proposed United States travel ban. The move comes amid mounting concerns over the country’s unusually high rate of visa overstays. The seven-member body, chaired…
Summary By Aria Deemie, climate change reporter with New Narratives Liberia’s normally dry season has been disrupted by rainfall, flooding, and strong winds, raising fresh concerns about the country’s vulnerability to climate change and the growing risks to agriculture, infrastructure, and coastal communities. For generations, Liberia’s weather followed a predictable pattern, with rains beginning in…
As internet access grows across Liberia, thousands of poor families are falling victim to increasingly sophisticated online scams promising fake jobs, travel programs and scholarships, draining life-savings and deepening economic hardship while police warn they still have few tools to stop the fraud even as lawmakers push a new bill to strengthen protections and enforcement….
A breakthrough malaria drug now approved and rolling out in eight African countries offers new hope for saving infants’ lives after years without an age-appropriate treatment, but Liberia risks being left behind as experts urge faster regulatory action to close the treatment gap in a nation still battling one of the region’s highest malaria burdens…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: The Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia on Tuesday submitted its long-awaited draft legislation for a war and economic crimes court and a national anti-corruption court to the country’s justice minister, following weeks of public disagreement with leading civil society groups…
Summary: · Health experts are urging swift regulatory approval for “Coartem Baby”, a groundbreaking new malaria drug for infants under six months, warning delays could cost lives. · Liberia continues to battle one of Africa’s highest malaria burdens, with nearly one million cases and an estimated 3,500 deaths in 2023 — most among children under…
Summary: KARNGAR TOWN, Johnsonville — In interview after interview, the story begins the same way: a promise of opportunity arrives quietly, wrapped in hope for a way out of poverty, with no hint of danger. Here in this community on the outskirts of Monrovia, Nor G. Boo had just finished arranging goods in her small…
By Anthony Stephens, senior reporter with New Narratives Summary: Liberia’s exclusion from the Trump administration’s latest travel ban has drawn a mix of praise and caution from foreign policy experts, who say it reflects warming relations with Washington as the Trump administration shift its focus from aid to U.S. national interests. The revised policy, announced…
