New Narratives

08/24/2026

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08/21/2026

Day two of our ongoing three-day workshop for our beat reporters and Senior Reporting Fellows.

We were joined by Aaron Weah, Director of the Ducor Institute of Social Research, and
Joyce Kilikpo, executive director of the Public Health Initiative Liberia—two key supporters of our work.

Their participation provided another valuable opportunity for our reporters to engage with experts and strengthen their understanding of the issues they cover.

Embassy of Sweden in MonroviaU.S. Embassy Monrovia, LiberiaEuropean Union in Liberia

08/20/2026

Believing in the power of knowledge, we have begun a three-day intensive training for the dedicated team of journalists working on our program. The training brings together reporters from Montserrado, B**g, Nimba, Margibi, Grand Bassa, and River Cess Counties, strengthening their skills and building their capacity to deliver impactful journalism in the communities they serve.

Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency - EPA of Liberia, addressed our team at the start of the workshop on Wednesday. He shared his experience engaging with journalists and highlighted key issues reporters should be mindful of when covering climate change and environmental issues.

At the workshop, we have also created space for our beat reporters and senior fellows to share their experiences covering their respective beats, highlight stories that have made an impact, and reflect on the lessons they have learned over the past five years of reporting under the Sida-supported project.

We appreciate the Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia for its continued support.
U.S. Embassy Monrovia, LiberiaEuropean Union in LiberiaUN in Liberia

08/18/2026

New Narratives publishes the list of registered doctors supplied by the Liberian Medical and Dental Center in August 2026. See the names here.

08/14/2026

Liberia’s economy is showing signs of stabilization, but the African Development Bank says the country needs about $2.83 billion annually through 2030 to meet development goals.

As Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon reports for FrontPage Africa, economists say mobilizing that financing will depend on stronger governance, tax reform and increased private investment.

Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia U.S. Embassy Monrovia, Liberia Environmental Protection Agency - EPA of Liberia Ministry of Information Executive Mansion-Liberia American Jewish World Service - AJWS

Summary

08/14/2026

“Our peace is very precious,” says an emotional Beatrice Johnson, an official of the Women in Peacebuilding Network, a group that played a key role in ending Liberia’s civil wars. “This peace that you are enjoying today, we went through trauma for it.”

Johnson was speaking Thursday in Monrovia at the close of our two-day intensive training on transitional justice and Liberia’s war and economic crimes court process for leading journalists, station managers and talk show hosts from Montserrado and Margibi Counties.

Johnson served as one of two panelists in a discussion on victims’ experiences during the wars, whether they have been brought on board in the processes leading to the court’s establishment, and their expectations of the process.

She told the gathering that the Office for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia had gotten victims involved in the process. She said, “we want peace and justice.”

With dwindling international financial support for the court because of a shift in priorities,
Peterson Sonyah, executive director of the Liberia Massacre Survivors Association, said “stealing” in the government needed to stop and urged the government to use that money to fund the court. The government has always denied corruption allegations.

Susanna Elmberger, program officer, Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law at the Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia, told the gathering that they will continue to support Liberia’s transitional justice process.

Other leading Liberian transitional justice experts also lectured at the training, including Hassan Bility, director of the Global Justice and Research Project, Liberia’s leading war crimes investigators; Adama Kiatamba Dempster, secretary general of the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia;
Cecil Griffiths, president of the Liberia Law Enforcement Association and Siadu Swaray, executive director of the Liberia Association of Psychosocial Services.

They covered a range of subjects, including investigating war crimes, reparations for victims and communities, how to interview victims and survivors of war and sexual violence; and security for the court.

Also during the training, Susanna presented runner-up prizes to Augusta Siah Lafalay and Gloria Wleh for their outstanding performances.

The pair were recently promoted to senior fellows in our program. Fatu Abegail Kamara won our Journalist of the Year Award. She, alongside Journalist King Brown, was also promoted to senior fellow in recognition of their outstanding reporting.

Special thanks to the Swedish government for funding this important work. U.S. Embassy Monrovia, LiberiaEuropean Union in LiberiaOHCHR LiberiaUN in Liberia

08/12/2026

George Marshall, Liberia’s Assistant Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, says President Joseph Boakai is personally lobbying the Legislature to ensure the War and Economic Crimes Court is approved before September 24, a date he described as significant because the President is expected to chair the United Nations Security Council.

Marshall said the President is also determined to ensure the court becomes operational in June 2027.

He spoke Wednesday at the opening of another intensive special workshop by us on Liberia’s transitional justice process, bringing together senior media leaders, including station managers, senior reporters and talk show hosts from Montserrado and Margibi Counties.

Day one other speakers include Tiawan Saye Gongloe, veteran Liberian human rights lawyer; Marion Deniaud, human rights officer from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; John Stewart, a commissioner of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and Christopher Sellee, director of communications at the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia.

Special thanks to Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia for funding our transitional justice training program.

U.S. Embassy Monrovia, LiberiaEuropean Union in LiberiaOHCHR LiberiaUN in LiberiaOffice for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia

08/06/2026

Did you know that every time a firefighter in northern Ghana runs into a burning home or a field engulfed in flames, he may be giving up a piece of his lungs to keep someone else alive? Picture a man standing in a cloud of smoke so thick it clings to his skin and sinks into his chest, because the breathing gear he needs is broken, shared, or missing entirely. Men like Abubakar Mohamed and Zakaria Yakubu don’t smoke, yet doctors warn them their lungs look like they do. They breathe in poison to save strangers, then struggle to afford the medical care that could save them. No easy insurance. No guarantee of a healthy retirement. Only the haunting fear that the smoke they fight today will become the illness waiting for them tomorrow.

For the full story and the voices behind these flames, watch and listen to this gripping documentary produced by Michael Ashalley for JoyNews and New Narratives: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1216119264

08/06/2026

We’re conducting a special refresher workshop on Audience Engagement Analysis, Product Creation, and Monetization for 60 leading Liberian media owners, business managers, technologists, and editorial leaders from Montserrado, B**g, Lofa and Margibi Counties.

Gardeh N. Garteh, who recently completed a six-month fellowship with experts from Hindustan Times and Mongabay, is leading sessions on the latest audience engagement, product development, and monetization strategies.

Anthony A. Stephens is also training participants in social media production, covering platforms, short-form video creation, teleprompter use, and content production equipment.

A special thank you to the Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia for supporting this workshop and the many other training programs that continue to strengthen Liberia’s media sector.

U.S. Embassy Monrovia, LiberiaEuropean Union in LiberiaFrontPage Africa@top fans

08/05/2026

We are enjoying this illuminating podcast series by our friend Aaron Weah, and Gerry Naughton. Highly recommended for all Liberians who want to know their history better and anyone else who is interested. Congratulations Aaron.

But in 1997, Liberians voted for Charles Taylor