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….
The Corruption That Allows Liberia’s Human Traffickers To Stay Free To Exploit the Poorest Citizens
More than 50 Liberians escaped a trafficking compound hidden in plain sight — and now they fear the people who tortured and deceived them may walk free. These survivors, some held for nearly a year, starved, beaten, and forced to lure their own family members into the trap, bravely told prosecutors everything. Their testimony should…
Liberia’s Anti-Corruption Watchdog Asked Liberians to Report Corruption By Putting Allegations in Boxes – It Didn’t Work
By Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives Summary: In August, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, hoping to encourage Liberians to call out what experts say is rampant corruption at every level of government, began placing whistleblower boxes across key government ministries, agencies, and police stations. They hoped people, particularly officials of government, would quietly report corruption and other illegal…
National ID Card Rollout Continues to Be Held Up by $1.7 Million Unpaid Government Debt
Liberia’s digital identity crisis is spiraling into a national emergency. Seven months after the government halted the rollout to “fix the system,” millions of Liberians remain locked out of banking halls, telecom services, and basic public systems—all because a US$1.7 million unpaid debt has left the country’s biometric database in the hands of a foreign…
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…
How Liberia’s Human Traffickers Stay Free
A mass escape from a trafficking ring handed prosecutors everything they needed for Liberia’s biggest trafficking conviction. 51 victims say a bribe is about to set their traffickers free By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent and New Narratives editors On a morning last October, more than 50 women and men walked into Paynesville magistrates’ court…
Experts Warn Digital Divide is Crushing a Generation’s Dreams and Locking the Country in Poverty
By Augusta S. Lafalay with New Narratives Summary: BARNESVILLE ESTATE, Montserrado County— Sarah Sackor and her classmates were excited the day in September when a computer teacher told their 12th-grade class early that they would finally begin internet lessons. For years, “computer class” had been mostly theory — copying notes from textbooks. Most students at…
“We Are Tired”: Women Demand Justice and Action on Gender Violence; Police Chief Promises Action
Women across Monrovia raised their voices in a powerful march demanding justice for Toni Jackson and urgent action to end the rising tide of gender‑based violence in Liberia. Carrying signs that read “We Are Tired,” they called on authorities to protect women and girls with the seriousness the crisis deserves. Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman…
Liberia’s Senior Women Lawyers to New Graduates: Be Brave, Work Hard, Fight for Your Place
Liberia’s senior women lawyers have delivered a powerful charge to the country’s newest female attorneys, urging them to step into the profession with courage, discipline, and unwavering confidence. Tetee Gebro reports in this social media Video. To read more about this story click this link: https://frontpageafricaonline.com/front-slider/liberias-senior-women-lawyers-to-new-graduates-be-brave-work-hard-fight-for-your-place/…
“We Are Tired”: Women Demand Justice and Action on Gender Violence; Police Chief Promises Action
Scores of women dressed in black marched through Monrovia on Monday to demand justice for the wife of prominent Liberian economist Samuel Jackson, Toni Jackson and to call for stronger action against gender-based violence in Liberia.The women said Jackson’s death is not just one family’s tragedy, but part of a bigger problem facing women across…
National ID Card Rollout Continues to Be Held Up by $1.7 Million Unpaid Government Debt
By Joyclyn Wea and Tetee Gebro with New Narratives Summary Seven months after President Joseph Boakai halted Liberia’s national digital identity card rollout to “fix the system,” the National Identification Registry says Liberia still cannot run the system because it is locked by the Kenyan company that built it. The Registry says the company will…
Liberia’s Senior Women Lawyers to New Graduates: Be Brave, Work Hard, Fight for Your Place
By Joyclyn Wea and Tetee Gebro, gender reporters with New Narratives Summary: Some of Liberia’s most senior women lawyers gathered over the weekend under an outdoor canopy in front of the Charlyne M. Brumskine Law Group offices in Congo Town, Monrovia, to deliver a message to the country’s newest female law graduates: do not wait…
Govt Releases Data on Eyeglasses Distribution After News Report Highlights Lack of Transparency
In October, during World Sight Day celebrations, Liberia’s Health Ministry announced an ambitious promise: to screen one thousand students and distribute twelve thousand donated reading glasses nationwide.Six months later, the ministry says about one fourth of those glasses have been distributed but it still has not given details on who received them. That’s leading vision…
Liberia’s Silent Crisis: Women and Children Bear the Brunt of Persistent Hunger
Across Liberia, a quiet crisis is unfolding—one that rarely makes headlines. It’s not war, not Ebola, but hunger. And at its center are women and children. As New Narratives climate reporter Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon found, women and children are feeling the impact of the crisis. This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part…
“We Are Tired”: Women Demand Justice and Action on Gender Violence; Police Chief Promises Action
By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: SINKOR, Monrovia— Dressed in black, chanting in anger and grief, scores of women marched through Monrovia on Monday to demand justice for Toni Jackson, the wife of Samuel Jackson, a prominent economist and political commentator, and to press the Liberian government to act more forcefully against gender-based…
Young Liberians March Demanding Stronger Government Action on Rape and Gender Based Violence
Young Liberians marched to the Women’s Peace Hub in Monrovia to demand real action on rape, saying that five years after the issue was declared a national emergency, cases are still rising and survivors are still fighting for justice; they delivered a petition calling for faster trials, stronger forensic services, better survivor support and an…
Young Liberians March Demanding Stronger Government Action on Rape and Gender Based Violence
By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: CONGO TOWN, Monrovia – Dozens of young Liberians marched through the streets of the capital to the Women’s Peace Hub here on Thursday for an anti-rape protest. They had planned to march on the nation’s Capitol building but government officials said they did not properly request…
Experts Say Liberia Must Strengthen Governance to Unlock Global Climate Funding as Government Moves to Implement Climate Commitments
Liberia is at risk of losing millions in global climate funding as experts warn the country must urgently strengthen its environmental governance, after years of stalled projects left coastal communities, farmers and vulnerable families exposed to rising seas and unpredictable weather; now, with leaders and partners meeting in Monrovia to chart a new path, many…
Experts Say Liberia Must Strengthen Governance to Unlock Global Climate Funding as Government Moves to Implement Climate Commitments
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate change correspondent with New Narratives Summary Liberia risks missing out on millions of dollars in international climate financing unless it strengthens its environmental governance systems, a Liberian climate expert has warned. Isaac Nyaneyon Kannah Teah, a Liberian climate expert with a master’s degree in geoscience from Cadi Ayyad University in Morocco,…
Middle East War Pushes Up Global Oil Prices, Increasing Pressure on Liberia
Liberians are feeling the pinch as global oil prices soar past $100 a barrel, driving up the cost of transport, food, electricity and daily survival in a country that relies entirely on imported fuel. Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon reports in this social media Video. To read more about this story click this link: Liberia: Middle East…
Middle East War Pushes Up Global Oil Prices, Increasing Pressure on Liberia
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate correspondent with New Narratives Summary Liberians are paying more to travel, eat and keep the lights on as conflict in the Middle East pushes global oil prices above $US100 a barrel for the first time in years, exposing the country’s dependence on imported fuel to the world’s most volatile markets….