Welcome to this special edition of Democracy in Focus, a collaboration between New Narratives and FrontPage Africa. I’m Anthony Stephens.
As plans for Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Court and National Anti-Corruption Court move forward, we’re bringing you a series of special interviews with experts and stakeholders about how the courts will work.
In this edition, I speak with Patmillia Doe Paivey, a commissioner at the Independent National Commission on Human Rights, Liberia’s independent human rights watchdog.
The commission is leading a new public fund to support the medical and other needs of survivors of the civil wars.
The initiative grew out of a proposal by veteran human rights lawyer, Tiawan Gongloe who called on all employed Liberians at home and abroad to contribute at least one U.S. dollar annually. Unemployed people were asked to contribute 100 Liberian dollars. The government would match every U.S. dollar raised with five dollars.
The proposal quickly gained support with head of the office of the War and Economic Crimes Court Jallah Barbu publicly donating the first dollar at an event in July.
Paivey has taken charge of the fund which will be a first of its kind. it acknowledges that more than 23 years after the civil wars ended and with more survivors dying, no reparations have been made provided.
Support for this podcast came from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union. (Until September 2026, the program was supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and American Jewish World Service.)
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