Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives Summary · Ocean surges destroy fences along Liberia’s Sinkor coastline, with UN projections warning that 230,000 Liberians face losing their homes to rising seas by 2100 · Stark inequality emerges as former President George Weah’s residence stands protected by boulder barriers while neighboring properties are unprotected · Critical infrastructure is…
FrontPage Africa
Economy Deeply Hit by Aid Cuts as Jobs Are Lost and Local Businesses See Huge Drop in Income
By Anthony Stephens and Allison Hunter with New Narratives Summary: Caroline Armah is exactly the sort of person the development world has tried to champion. The 33-year-old entrepreneur is building a business solving one of the most fundamental problems Liberia faces: affordable, childhood nutrition. Armah’s business Calaw Foodssells a nutritional supplement made of finely ground…
Liberia’s New Tourism Authority Wants a Piece of West Africa’s Multi-Billion Dollar Tourism Sector But Challenges Abound
By Aria Deemie and Jake Duffy with New Narratives Summary: PAYNESVILLE, Montserrado – On a warm Saturday afternoon, Chris Onanuga, Liberia’s newly appointed presidential envoy for tourism, mingles with young people at a recreation day in Voka Mission. Some kick a football; others seek shade beneath sprawling trees. To Onanuga, the scene is something more…
Liberia Faces Persistent Human Rights Issues According to Latest US Human Rights Report
By Aria Deemie with New Narratives Despite a raft of government reforms and international partnerships, Liberia continues to face serious human rights challenges, according to the 2024 U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices released this week. The report found there were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Liberia…
Nobel Laureate Gbowee Pushes for War Crimes Court Office to be Made Statutory Body; Some Activists Disagree
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Leymah Gbowee, one of Liberia’s most celebrated peace activists, on Wednesday called on the country’s Legislature to pass a law making the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia a statutory body, thereby protecting it from the whims of a future president who…
Citizens’ Fury Boils Over as Monrovia Residents Torch Drug Den
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon and Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Summary: · Residents of Saye Town in Monrovia have destroyed a notorious drug den, accusing authorities of years of inaction against crime and addiction in their community. · The Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency welcomed the raid, but locals remain distrustful, citing alleged collusion between some…
Lonestar Cell Sues EPA Over Noise Fine, Agency Confirms
By Aria Deemie, Environment Reporter New Narratives Summary: Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency said it is facing a legal challenge after telecom company Lonestar Cell filed a lawsuit contesting a $US15,000 fine for noise pollution at its Congo Town facility. The case, filed on May 27, is currently before the Civil Law Court in Monrovia. According…
Experts Say Liberia’s New Environment Lab Could Slash Pollution if the Government Matches it With Enforcement
By Aria Deemie, climate change reporter New Narratives Summary: Experts say Liberia’s new fully equipped environmental laboratory is a breakthrough that could transform how the country tackles pollution. The laboratory, launched last month by the Environmental Protection Agency, will allow EPA technicians to conduct forensic testing on air, water, and soil samples, allowing them to…
After Years of Delay, Sea Wall Funded by Global Climate Financing Set to Begin Construction as 1000 Community Members Await Relocation
By Joyclyn Wea, senior correspondent with New Narratives with photography by Allison Hunter WEST POINT, Monrovia — As heavy rains batter the coast, fear thickens in West Point. Five years ago a storm surge took the home Sarah Gary’s father built when she was a child. Now Gary lives in a house just feet from the Atlantic’s…
As Rural Healthcare Struggles, One Lofa Entrepreneur Steps Up to Bridge the Gap
By James Papy Kwabo Jr. and Peter Kollie with Alternate Youth Radio and New Narratives ZORZOR, Lofa County – In a region where access to essential medicine can determine whether someone lives or dies, one young nurse is quietly building a health movement from the ground up. Despite the lack of support for entrepreneurs in…
Experts Say Liberia’s Security Council Seat Could Strengthen Push for Climate Security, as U.N. High Court Issues Landmark Ruling
Summary: By Aria Deemie, climate change reporter with New Narratives In a historic ruling, the United Nations’ highest court has declared that countries have a legal duty to act on climate change, a decision advocates say could reshape global climate diplomacy. The ruling comes as Liberia regains a seat on the U.N. Security Council for…
“We Are Not Ready”: As Rainy Season Gets Underway Disaster Agency Goes Unfunded With Hundreds of Thousands at Risk
By Aria Deemie, climate change reporter with New Narratives As Liberia’s rainy season gets underway, the country’s national disaster agency warns it is not prepared for what could become one of the worst flooding seasons in recent history. International forecasts warn that more than 825,000 people are at risk in the coming weeks. As the…
Building Financial Independence at West Africa’s Newsrooms
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….
No Christmas Cheer For Growing Number of Liberians in Poverty
By Fatu Kamara with New Narratives TODEE DISTRICT, Montserrado County – For Christian Liberians Christmas is normally a period of smiles, joy and exchange of gifts with friends and loved ones. But as more Liberians fall below the poverty line, for many, that is not their experience this year. This year’s Christmas has brought more…
Children Forced Out of School and into Labor as Poverty Tightens Grip on Rural Liberia
By Joseph Titus Yekeryan with New Narratives SALALA, Bong County- The midday sun beats down here as 10-year-old Nulee runs from one vehicle to another with plastic sachets of cold-water urging passengers to buy. “Cold water, cold water here! Make your chest cold!” he calls out in a high-pitched voice. His childhood, once filled with…
Flood Victims Angry as Disaster Agency Aid Vanishes and No Help Arrives Six Months After Floods
By Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives ITI, River Cess – The horizon is gray and murky here and in neighboring Glanyah, two communities battered by the wrath of nature. Mohammed Keita, sits on an old sponge mattress gifted him by a neighbor, in the ruins of his former home that was destroyed by flooding…
Deforestation is Leaving Rural Dwellers More Vulnerable to Increasingly Devastating Windstorms, But Experts Say There Are No Quick Fixes
By Siaway T. Miapue- [email protected] with New Narratives Ma Annie Quiyea points to a space that used to be her home, – Photo: Siaway T. Miapue/New Narratives BEATUO, Nimba County – Annie Quiyea sits uncomfortably on a bench in front of the cement slab that used to be the foundation of her home here…
Warlord Claims War Crimes Court Will “Dismantle” Peace as Victims Take Center Stage at Peace Commemorations
As Liberia marks 21 years of peace, victims demand justice through war crimes courts. Former warlords resist, warning of instability, while international backers and activists call for accountability, healing, and reform….
Crisis in Rural Education Continues to End Children’s Dreams
In rural Liberia, Nancy Howard’s dream of journalism faded after 9th grade. With no local school, she turned to farming—now 25, a mother of three, working her family’s sugarcane field….
10 dead, 30 missing, No Excavator to Conduct Rescue Search as Survivors Say Mines Ministry Forced Them into Abandoned Mine
Ten are confirmed dead, over thirty missing, and survivors blame local authorities for forcing miners into a dangerous pit. Rescue efforts stall as promised excavators fail to arrive amid growing outrage….
Ten Feared Dead After Being Trapped In A Mudslide At An Artisanal Mine In River Cess County
A late-night mudslide at an artisanal mine in Chio Town has left at least ten feared dead. Locals continue desperate searches, while officials cite overwhelmed safety efforts and illegal mining activity….