A dead baby whale washed ashore at Sheri Beach in Congo Town on February 11, its head tightly entangled in a fishing net, drawing more than a thousand people who quickly cut the carcass apart for food before authorities arrived the next day. The incident exposed major gaps in Liberia’s coastal protection system—weak enforcement of…
By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: • Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s former president, said the country should be ashamed that only 11 women serve in the 103-seat Legislature, a fact that is holding back the country’s development and peacebuilding. Advocates welcomed the president’s words, saying the low number reflects an unwillingness for…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia— Liberia took a major step to end war time impunity this month when President Joseph Boakai issued an executive order to establish an office for a war crimes court to try those “bearing the greatest responsibility” for atrocities in civil wars that ended in 2003 and left…
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,…
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…
By Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives ITI, River Cess – Last month’s Cestos River Bridge collapse here in the south of River Cess county, has caused chaos across the country, severing the primary route from the capital to southeastern Liberia during the Christmas and new year holiday period. The bridge collapsed under the weight…
