As Liberia moves closer to taking on a leadership role at the United Nations Security Council, experts are warning that delays in establishing a War and Economic Crimes Court could pose risks to the country’s stability and international credibility. Advocates argue that addressing unresolved civil war-era abuses is essential for justice, accountability, and lasting peace,…
By Nukanah Kollie with New Narratives Summary: SUAKOKO, Bong County — All was calm at Phebe Hospital on a recent afternoon. White buildings sat behind freshly cut grass. Ambulances stood nearby. The former Ebola Treatment Unit looked like an ordinary hospital ward. More than a decade ago, it was part of an hourly battle between life…
By Nukanah Kollie with New Narratives Summary: GBARNGA, Bong County —A bright blue two-story building stands in central Gbarnga, overlooking Broad Street. Red railings surround the balcony, where freshly sewn school uniforms hang beneath a sign reading, “ACD Vocational Training, School Uniform Production, Literacy Program.” Inside, shelves hold colorful fabrics as sewing machines hum across the…
A powerful El Niño weather pattern could expose serious gaps in Liberia’s ability to warn and protect communities from extreme weather, according to experts. With flooding, stronger storms, and other climate-related threats expected, thousands of people could be at risk if early warning systems fail to reach vulnerable communities in time. The warning highlights the…
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate and environment reporter with New Narratives Summary The sea off Liberia turns a deceptive shade of calm every year around this time as the rains give way to the dry season – warm, glassy, inviting. But Nathaniel Blama, Liberia’s former chief environmental regulator, has learned to read that as a…
In Liberia, health experts are sounding the alarm as childhood acute malnutrition has nearly tripled, driven by aid cuts, rising food prices, and growing poverty. Families in rural communities are struggling to feed their children, while clinics report shortages of lifesaving nutritional treatments that once helped keep vulnerable babies alive. Officials warn that without urgent…
By JENNIFER AMBOLLEY ASHAIMAN, Accra — Salma Iddrisu sits beside her large pan here in the centre of the Ashaiman scrapyard, selling food to workers as the day’s activities go on around her. The 38-year-old has been doing this for the past six years. She arrives in the morning, sets up her food and can…
In Ghana’s Ashaiman scrapyard, families are unknowingly facing serious health risks from lead pollution linked to informal battery recycling. Parents work and children spend time near sites where old batteries are broken open, releasing toxic lead dust and fumes into the air, soil, and food. Health experts warn that lead exposure can cause anemia, hearing…
Bicycles are one of the cleanest and most affordable ways to travel in Ghana, but for many cyclists, the roads remain dangerously unsafe. Without dedicated bike lanes and cycling infrastructure, riders face daily risks from traffic and pollution. Investing in safer cycling routes could protect lives, improve public health, and support a greener future. Mark…
By Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith Summary Five years ago, Muniru Ibrahim was getting ready to leave for work in Wa when his phone rang. A woman he did not know was on the line. She had alarming news. Ibrahim’s 12-year-old son, Sadat, had been knocked off his bicycle on a stretch of road in Wa…
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate and environment reporter with New Narratives Summary GBAA-GAYE TOWN, Grand Bassa County – Eight-month-old Helen does not play the way babies usually do. She lies against her mother’s chest, as they sit under a palaver hut in this remote village surrounded by forest and accessible by one hand-cut road. Helen’s legs are…
New Narratives journalist recognized among five finalists continent-wide for exposing corruption in Liberia’s largest human trafficking case; winner to be announced November 11 in Nairobi. Monrovia – Anthony Stephens, an award-winning journalist and lawyer with New Narratives, has become the first Liberian shortlisted for the prestigious African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award. Stephens is…
By Caleb Ahinakwah For decades, development money in Africa has arrived with its own instructions: what to fix, how to fix it, and who should do the work. Now a small but growing movement is asking a different question: what if the people receiving the money wrote the brief? A community in Zambia, Nyankanga, had…
By Caleb Ahinakwah Africa must take greater control of its development agenda, resources and decision-making processes, speakers at a major development convening in Accra have said. The call was made at the three-day Africa at the Centre: Leading Change, Shifting Power convening, which opened in Accra on Tuesday. The event has brought together more than…
By Joyce Gyekye For years, communities across Africa have been treated as recipients of aid rather than as the people who should determine what development looks like. Now, a coalition of civil society organizations from across the continent is coming together to change that. Two hundred organizations gathered this week in Accra, Ghana, to confront…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Sweden’s ambassador to Liberia has used an exclusive interview with Frontpage Africa/New Narratives marking the end of the country’s sixteen years of direct bilateral support since the end of the war, to reaffirm his government’s commitment to Liberia’s post war justice and accountability process. Ambassador…
Despite closing its embassy and ending direct bilateral development assistance to Liberia, Sweden says it remains committed to supporting the country’s post-war justice, human rights and sexual and reproductive health priorities through the United Nations, European Union and other multilateral programs. Swedish Ambassador Karl Backéus urged progress toward establishing a War and Economic Crimes Court,…
The long-delayed trial over thousands of bags of Saudi-donated rice meant for vulnerable and disaster-affected Liberians is underway in Monrovia, but flood victims in River Cess say justice must go beyond the courtroom. Saudi Arabia donated 29,000 bags of rice in 2023, and prosecutors allege that 25,054 bags, valued at about US$425,918, were stolen, misapplied…
African civil society leaders are calling for a major shift in how development money is managed, arguing that African organizations and communities should have greater power to decide their own priorities rather than simply follow donor agendas. At a gathering of more than 200 civil society leaders, funders and policymakers in Accra, participants pushed for…
By Tetee Gebro, gender and health correspondent with New Narratives Summary ACCRA, Ghana — When a donor offered money to an organization working in Kenya, it came with an opportunity to expand its work into more communities. For a small organization that needed funding, it might have seemed like an easy decision. It wasn’t. The donor wanted the…
By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary INTERNATIONAL TIMBER INDUSTRY VILLAGE, River Cess County — When Eric Kollor learned that former government officials were finally on trial over thousands of bags of Saudi-donated rice meant for vulnerable and disaster-affected Liberians, he was surprised. The case had been moving through the courts in Monrovia,…
