By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Leading justice advocates are urging the government of President Joseph Boakai to make the creation of a war and economic crimes court its top priority and remove the proposed anti-corruption court from the mandate of the Office of the War and Economics Crimes Court, the…
Liberia
Liberia Seeks to Monetize Forests as Activists Warn Africa Summit Against “False Solutions”
By Aria Deemie, climate change reporter with New Narratives At the close of the second Africa Climate Summit, with brought African leaders together in Addis Ababa, campaigners are warning governments not to fall for “false solutions” such as carbon offsets markets that they said can worsen the climate crisis. In a press statement, ActionAid International…
Former LURD General “K1” Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years Prison After Pleading Guilty to War-Related Crimes in U.S.
By Jake Duffy with New Narratives PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – Laye Sekou Camara, known by the war names “K-1” or “Dragon master”, a former commander of the Lurd rebel group, was taken into custody Thursday after being sentenced by a federal court to 57 months in prison for lying in U.S. immigration proceedings about his role…
Senior EU Diplomat Warns Disinformation Is a ‘Major Threat’ to Liberian Democracy, Links Climate Change to Regional Migration
By Anthony Stephens, senior correspondent with New Narratives Summary: A top European Union diplomat warned Tuesday that disinformation poses a growing danger to democracies, as waves of Russian-backed propaganda from neighboring Sahel states reverberate across West Africa. João Gomes Cravinho, the European Union’s Special Representative for the Sahel spoke at a press conference in Monrovia…
As Climate Change Drives More Farmers Into the Forests Ambitious Boakai Forestry Sector Reform Is Yet to Help Local Communities
By Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives KANGBO TOWN, River Cess— On a hot morning in this forest-fringed village of Gborgar Town deep in south-central Liberia, Marthaline Gbar sits hunched outside her zinc-roofed home, stirring a pot of simmering cassava leaves. The pot, barely half full, was meant to stretch across four children aged 5…
‘I Smile in Public and Die Inside’; New Mothers Suffer Alone With A Condition That Devastates Families
By Augusta S. Lafalay with New Narratives Summary: · Liberian mothers face a hidden postpartum depression crisis, with cultural stigma, spiritual beliefs, and lack of diagnosis leaving many to suffer in silence. · Experts warn that inadequate screening and minimal funding are undermining maternal mental health, destabilizing families and worsening outcomes for children. · Survivors…
Radio: As Rural Healthcare Struggles, One Lofa Entrepreneur Steps Up to Bridge the Gap
In Liberia’s remote northern counties, accessing basic healthcare can mean walking miles, only to find that the medicine you need isn’t there.But in Lofa County, one young nurse is pushing against the odds. With no formal support, he’s building something rare: a self-funded health service that’s quietly reshaping lives in communities left behind and showing…
“We’re Failing a Generation,” Experts Say President Boakai’s Drug War Lacks Urgency as Generation Slips Through the Cracks
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the “Investigating Liberia” project. The Swedish Embassy provided funding, but the founder had no say in the story’s content….
New Report Recommends Holistic Approach to Drug Crisis; Calls for Joint Taskforce Against Drug Trafficking In The Mano River Area
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon with New Narratives Liberia is facing a full-blown drug crisis according to a new report that finds the reasons for the crisis are rooted in poverty, failures of post war justice, unemployment and a growing regional drug trade. The report, the first to look at the reasons for the growing problem,…
Report Confirms Weah Government Failure to Fund Coastal Defense Project Delayed Progress for Years Costing Homes and Livelihoods
By Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives WEST POINT, Monrovia-When the sea turns rough, Elizabeth Gray and her family have nowhere to run. Water floods through their home in this low-lying informal settlement, forcing her three children to relieve themselves indoors while waves crash just meters from their door. As this year’s rainy season gets underway,…
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…
“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….