At a glance: Liberia
Newsline
Rwandan and Liberian youths capture images of their lives at 'Eye See III' workshop
NEW YORK, USA, 24 April 2008 – Each equipped with a camera and a unique perspective, dozens of children in Rwanda and Liberia recently spent a week with internationally renowned photographer and frequent UNICEF contributor Giacomo Pirozzi for a series of training workshops called ‘Eye See III’.
Executive Director visits programmes bringing hope to war-affected Liberian children
MONROVIA, Liberia, 27 February 2008 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman has just completed a visit here to gain firsthand insights into the situation of children in post-conflict Liberia.
Liberia's President helps UNICEF launch 'The State of the World’s Children 2008'
MONROVIA, Liberia, 5 February 2008 – More and more, post-conflict Liberia is finding opportunities for change.
Never too late to learn, students in Liberia say
MONROVIA, Liberia, 4 January 2008 – “I was big when I started school,” says Benetta Nyemah, a 15-year-old student who attends primary school here in the capital of Liberia. “During the war, my parents left Monrovia and we went into our village to hide. There was no school in the village, and we used to work on the farm all day.”
Accelerated Learning Programme gives conflict-affected youths a chance for education
CALDWELL, Liberia, 26 October 2007 – Odell Williams is a student in the Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) at the Elizabeth Tubman Public school outside Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.
Mamiwhe’s Digital Diary: A passionate commitment to education for all
NEW YORK, USA, 3 October 2007 – Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16, is eager to tell the world what she thinks is important. She wants especially to emphasize what she sees as the most crucial issue for the future of her country, Liberia – namely, the advancement of education for all children.
UNICEF Executive Board reviews country programmes that help societies rebuild
NEW YORK, USA, 6 September 2007 – On the second day of their current session in New York, UNICEF Executive Board members today continued their discussion of the programmes of 17 country offices planning their work for the next five years.
Vocational training helps reintegrate Liberia’s former child soldiers
KOLAHUN, Liberia, 3 July 2007 – On a busy dirt road in Kolahun City, young Tarnue is being trained in auto mechanics at a UNICEF-supported centre for Children Associated with Fighting Forces (CAFF). Close to a building that was destroyed during the war, Tarnue and his friends are learning how to repair car engines.
Executive Board focuses on security and development in post-conflict Liberia
NEW YORK, 7 June 2007 – History has shown that more than half of post-conflict countries slide back into conflict within five years of achieving peace. On the final day of its 2007 annual meeting, UNICEF’s Executive Board focused on preventing such an outcome in Liberia, which has just emerged from a 14-year civil war.
Bednets from Canadian ‘Spread the Net’ campaign to tackle malaria in Liberia
GATINEAU, Canada, 18 April 2007 – It is a lofty goal: to cover Africa in blue bednets and stop death by malaria. A recent announcement by UNICEF Canada unveiled an important partnership with the Canada-based ‘Spread the Net’ anti-malaria campaign, and together, the partners aim to reach this goal.
Mamiwhe’s story: Advancing girls’ education for the sake of Liberia’s future
MONROVIA, Liberia, 19 March 2007 – After school, Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16, goes to the market to help her mother sell fish here in Liberia’s capital.
UN Executive Boards complete mission to post-war Liberia
MONROVIA, Liberia, 7 March 2007 – After more than 14 years of civil conflict, Liberia is moving forward on the road to recovery.
Liberia’s President tells UN and UNICEF delegates education is key to development
MONROVIA, Liberia, 28 February 2007 – The President of Liberia has emphasized the urgent need to get children back to school as her country struggles to rebuild after almost 15 years of civil conflict.
UN agencies work together to build new school in Liberia
TENNEBU, Liberia, 28 February 2007– On a dusty road in the town of Tennebu, a new seven-classroom schoolhouse is rising just behind the remains of the school, which was destroyed during Liberia’s civil conflict.
Formerly abducted into rebel forces, a Liberian girl makes a new start
GANTA, Liberia, 26 February 2007 – Towards the end of Liberia’s 15-year civil war, Gloria (not her real name) was abducted into the rebel forces by boys she knew. She tried to resist but they forced her at knifepoint. She went on to spend six months cooking, cleaning and learning how to use a weapon.
Minister of Education urges international support for recovery in post-conflict Liberia
NEW YORK, USA, 16 February 2007 – Having emerged from an almost 15-year civil conflict, Liberia is now gathering international support to help bring hope and a better future to its children and women.
Partners’ Forum meets to support rebuilding in post-civil war Liberia
NEW YORK, USA, 14 February 2007 – “This meeting is crucial to the future of the people of Liberia,” stated President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at the Liberia Partners’ Forum held this week in Washington DC.
Liberating Liberia’s war generation
MONROVIA, Liberia, 5 February 2007 – Brutal marks of war and neglect are stark in Liberia’s capital, but unseen is the damage to an entire generation.
Liberia measles drive targets 650,000 children under five
SAKONNEDU, Liberia, 23 January 2007 – Across Liberia yesterday, a massive logistics operation went into high gear to protect 650,000 children under the age of five from measles.
West African children take to the airwaves to make their voices heard
MONROVIA, Liberia and FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 18 December 2006 – This year’s ICDB on 10 December served as clarion call for broadcasters in Liberia and Sierra Leone to engage the voices of young people, providing them with a platform to air their views on reversing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Liberia’s mothers urged to exclusively breastfeed
ZORZOR, Liberia, June 2006 – “Yorr, yorr,” UNICEF’s Henrietta Howard cried out in her native Kpelle language, issuing a traditional message to grab the audience’s attention. On cue, more than 200 women – many holding their infants – quieted down and replied, “Yorr, yorr!” and the launch of World Breastfeeding Week in Liberia began.
Liberia launches Girls’ Education National Policy with support from UNICEF
MONROVIA, Liberia, 18 April 2006 – The education of girls is to become a “cornerstone” of development in Liberia, according to Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, who officially launched a Girls’ Education National Policy today.
Liberia: A new start for children associated with fighting forces
BUCHANAN, Liberia, 1 March 2006 – The first of thousands of former child combatants have completed a UNICEF-backed rehabilitation programme to give them new skills for the future. One hundred and sixteen boys and girls have finished the nine-month training course in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
UNICEF-supported water tanks bring clean water to communities in Monrovia
MONROVIA, Liberia, 23 February 2006 – Before the UNICEF water tanks were brought into Jallah Town, in the eastern part of the capital city, 72-year-old Jallah Kollie and his family had to spend hours each day finding enough clean drinking water for their needs.
Tackling polio in Liberia
MONROVIA, Liberia, 8 December 2005 – The final push in this year’s battle to eradicate polio in Africa begins on 9 December with the fourth round of National Immunization Days (NIDs). These campaigns have been synchronized across up to 23 African countries polio in the course of 2005.
400,000 Liberian children receive school supplies from UNICEF
HARPER, Liberia, 2 December 2005 – In a symbol of hope for Liberia’s children, UNICEF is distributing educational supplies to some 2,000 public schools across the country, benefiting nearly half a million students.
Young voices call out across Liberian airwaves
MONROVIA, Liberia, 20 September 2005 – An unusual group of young Liberian journalists is landing more and more major news scoops, such as an exclusive interview with the Liberian Head of State, the Minister of Defence, or UNICEF Liberia Representative Angela Kearney.
Liberia: Breastfeeding Week launched on civil war battlegrounds
ZORZOR, Liberia, 3 August 2005 – “Yoh, yoh,” UNICEF’s Henrietta Howard cried out in her native Kpelle language, summoning the audience’s attention in the traditional way. On cue, more than 200 women, many holding their infants, replied, “Yoh, yoh!” – kicking off World Breastfeeding Week in Liberia.
Former child soldiers in Liberia now aim for sports glory
MONROVIA, 15 June 2005 – “Peace is very, very sweet,” said 13-year-old Stanley Varfley, captain of the winning boys’ football team at the youth sports tournament held to celebrate the Day of the African Child in Monrovia. “In five years, I’d love to see more development in Liberia, both in sport and in the government.”
New schools and accelerated learning help Liberian students make up for lost time
BUANPLAY, Liberia, 25 May 2005 – Thirteen-year-old Kosaye is the oldest student in her first grade class. Because of Liberia’s 14-year civil war, children like Kosaye missed the vital years of their schooling. With the guns of war now silenced, many schools have finally reopened. Despite her classmates’ constant teasing about her age, Kosaye is determined to stay in school and finish her education.
IKEA donates 9,000 tables for Liberia’s schools and health centres
MONROVIA, Liberia, 24 May 2005 – IKEA, the Swedish furniture manufacturer and a UNICEF corporate partner, has donated 9,000 tables to support UNICEF’s work in Liberia. The tables are worth over $765,000.
Kicking polio out of Liberia
TUBMANBURG, Liberia, 15 April 2005 – Peace has finally returned to this West African nation, and a vitally important peace dividend is reaching every corner of the county: the protection of all children from polio.
Former child soldiers being re-recruited in Liberia
NEW YORK, 4 April 2005 – Liberia’s former child soldiers are once again being forced into combat, even though the country’s civil war has officially ended.
Vaccinators strive to ‘reach the unreachable’ in Liberia’s polio campaign
NEW YORK, 4 March 2005 - Liberia has completed the first of four rounds of polio vaccinations this year, designed to reach all children under the age of five. This effort is part of a massive polio immunization drive involving 23 countries across the African continent. The aim is to reach a hundred million children and drive polio out of Africa for good.
