Governance and Human Rights Reporting Liberia's extractive industries

Liberia's extractive industries - including mining, timber, and potential oil and gas - are an important part of Liberia’s economy. If managed effectively, these natural resources have the potential to significantly improve the country’s development prospects. However, effective oversight is crucial to ensure that benefits reach Liberian citizens, and that citizens understand the sector.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is working with New Narratives, a non-profit organisation based in Liberia, to boost media coverage of the extractive sector. The programme builds on these organisations' previous work in boosting Liberian media coverage of oil and gas. 

The programme has selected 13 of Liberia's best journalists and is providing them with ongoing support, comprising intensive workshops, modest funding to cover the costs of reporting, and mentoring from experienced journalists based in Liberia and elsewhere. The participating journalists will work on relevant political news, investigations, analysis, talk shows, and more. The participants work across all media - radio, TV, print and online - and between them their stories reach a wide spectrum of citizens in Liberia, including policymakers. 

The programme is funded by German Development Cooperation and Australian Aid, and implemented in partnership with New Narratives and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ). German Development Cooperation is funding a 12-month programme of workshops and mentoring focussing on Liberia's mining industry, while Australian Aid is supporting a 6-month programme of mentoring with a focus on other extractive industries such as timber and petroleum.