Struggle against Boko Haram entering new phase?

A week and a half before Nigeria’s presidential election was scheduled, the military declared in a letter to the chairman of the electoral commission that they would not be able to assist with security measures for another for six weeks due to a major offensive to be concluded in the north-east. As a result, the […]
Swiss extend detention of war crimes suspect

Alieu Kosiah, the Liberian war crime suspect held by Switzerland, is expected to remain in preventive detention for another three months. A source told Nordic Africa News that the decision to extend was made after a hearing recently. When contacted the spokeswoman of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland Jeannette Balmer said “We […]
Sweden’s first ambassador for global women’s issues

On 1 January 2015, Annika Molin Hellgren took up her post as Sweden’s first Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and the Coordinator of Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy. She has previously held positions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MFA) Africa Department, the Delegation of Sweden to the OECD in Paris, the Permanent Mission of Sweden […]
Decentralization in Liberia: A giant leap into the future

On Wednesday, February 18, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf launched the National Policy on Decentralization and Local Governance. The policy is aimed at decentralizing governance in Liberia, and the launching is in response to the long yawning of the Liberian people to see tangible evidence of decentralization. For all practical reasons, this is an expressed commitment of […]
French-African forum for shared growth held

Liberia’s Commerce and Industry Minister Axel Addy, accompanied by the country’s Ambassador to France, Dr. C. William Allen, on Friday, February 6, attended the French-African Forum for Shared Growth hosted by the French Government in Paris. The forum, attended by heads of states of France, Senegal, Gabon, and Ivory Coast, brought together trade ministers from over […]
Elections postponement: a threat to democracy

Fellow Nigerians and democrats, The Independent National electoral commission (INEC) has officially announced the postponement of the much anticipated February 14 and 28 general elections to March 28 and April 11 respectively. Our hearts bleed because our democracy is being threatened by the same individuals that benefited from it. Obviously, we believe INEC chairman Prof. […]
Nigeria’s north hopeful after elections delay

Nigerian civil society is in uproar over the pressure exerted by the military on the country’s election body to postpone scheduled voting by six weeks. But in the northeast, the heartland of the Boko Haram insurgency the security forces say they need more time to crush, there is support for a delay. Chairman of the […]
Urey: I owe no one an apology

Former Liberian Maritime Bureau Commissioner Benoni W. Urey says he owes nobody an apology for working for the defunct government of President Charles G. Taylor. Speaking recently to a cross section of the United States-based Friends of Benoni Urey (FOBU), during a teleconference, Mr. Urey noted that he did not work for Mr. Taylor, as is being […]
Will Demands to postpone elections be heeded

As the Nigerian presidential election is less than two weeks away, matters come to a head. Calls for a postponement of the election was written off as dubious months ago but have now intensified again as the outcome of the election gets ever more unpredictable. In September last year, there were some voices connected to […]
Making UN peacekeeping more effective

The UN’s peacekeeping operations are facing many challenges. Demand for UN missions is increasing. At the same time, the resources available are limited and must be managed prudently. The nature of international conflict has changed over the past 25 years. Interstate armed conflicts have been largely replaced by intrastate conflicts, often in countries with weak […]