Cambodia After Khmer Rouge

Hoes, cuttlasses, and other tools were used to massacre victims 

My 25th birthday was spent in Cambodia; not in grand style, but with deep emotions.  I had been undergoing a course in peace building and conflict resolution at the Rotary Center for Peace & Conflict Studies, situated within the Chulalongkorn University based in Bangkok, Thailand. And as part of the course work, fellows were flown into Cambodia to undertake two weeks of intensive field  work. The goal was to afford fellows a chance to come face-to-face with the realities of a post-war context.

World Bank Report: Unsafe Sex Threaten Global Health

A new World Bank report warns that risky behaviors –smoking, using illicit drugs, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets, and unsafe sex— are increasing globally  and pose a growing threat to the health of individuals, particularly in developing countries. The report looks at how individual choices that lead to these behaviors are formed and reviews the effectiveness of interventions such as legislation, taxation, behavioral change campaigns, and cash transfers to combat them.

Liberia: 'Yanaboys', Market Women Can Now Own Shares in CEMENCO

The Government of Liberia must truly mean business this time around. It has announced that consistent with its policy to create wealth for Liberians, it will be undertaking series of divestitures of its interest in major income earning companies, beginning with the country's sole cement producer -- CEMENCO.

Disclosing this to the public this week, Finance Minister Amara Konneh recalled that this exercise was kicked into motion last week. The government has hired the services of Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) to divert 200,000  of its shares in CEMENCO to ordinary Liberians.

According to government, this goes to show President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's commitment to ensuring that ordinary Liberians share in the wealth of the nation.

"By transferring Government’s shares to Liberians, the real owners, they will have the opportunity to share in the profits that CEMENCO is enjoying as a result of investing in Liberia. The details of the offerings will be disclosed in a series of advertisements in the local dailies and radios," Minister Konneh said. "One thing we have made abundantly clear is that no one Liberia can buy more than 15% of the total share offerings. In this direction, we encourage ordinary Liberians; market women, yana boys, school teachers, nurses, doctors, trade men and women and Liberians from all walks of life to take advantage of this divesture." 

He continued: "When more Liberians own a part of these investments, it generates a wealth protection safety net that can run across several generations. The President has instructed that we ensure this exercise is not monopolized by any one group of Liberians, with wealth or authority, as this program is critical to her vision of creating a middle class in our society consistent with the National Vision 2030 and the Agenda for Transformation."

State of the Liberian Economy: Full Text by Finance Minister Amara Konneh

Min. Konneh

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, Fellow Liberians

Let me begin by first extending sincere apologies for the abrupt cancellation of our October Press briefing with the media on the state of the Liberian economy. It was due to pressing and intervening national emergencies. My apologies again!

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, today, we continue the exercise of keeping the country and the public informed about the opportunities, challenges, difficulties we are experiencing and gains we have seen so far, in the quest to transform our economy and put Liberians to back work again. We believe it is important for Liberian citizens to know what Government is doing for them, and to hold us accountable. 

Liberia: CDC Lawmaker Wants Officials Tested for Drug

Gray believes a national drug test for officials is the way forward

Opposition parliamentarian Acarous Gray has challenged President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to subject her officials --- heads of ministries and agencies, especially those tasked with the responsibility to fight substance abuse, as well as personnel of the various security apparatus ---  to a national drug test. 

'I Control HIV': A Positive Liberian Mother Puts It

___The Burden of Care on An HIV+ Mother___

A mother breast-feeding her little one

Scores of HIV+ women who are in care at various health facilities in Liberia have called for a need to create an avenue for them to be self-employed. These women – predominantly single moms – have blamed stigma and discrimination for their limited or no access to livelihoods. “In the end, we turned into beggars because of our status,” they have said. Economic empowerment is all these women are hoping for.

Liberia’s President Seeks Gurus’ Intervention

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is once more soliciting the intervention of religious leaders in Liberia’s ongoing search for lasting peace and stability. The country is recovering from a brutal civil war that lasted 14 consecutive years. An estimated 250,000 lives were destroyed. Thousands of Liberians were also displaced internally or dispersed across the various sub-regional [West African] countries as refugees.

Earlier this week, the President issued a Proclamation in which she called on religious leaders (priests, imams, bishops, etc.) to gather in their various places of worship across the country to give thanks and praises to Almighty God. She would also appreciate it were these religious gurus to pray for God’s blessings and mercies to continually rest upon Liberia and Liberians.

Are Media Owners a Threat to Ethical Journalism?

Media owners have been blamed and described as “a big threat to ethical journalism” as demonstrated by their one-sided approach to the running of their entities. But come to think of it though, there are some managing directors or publishers who would do  just anything to see certain news items blocked from the production process -- be it in print or electronic.