The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with support from the Embassy of Ireland in Liberia, has relaunched its U-Report platform, strengthening efforts to give Liberian children, adolescents and young people a direct, safe and accessible channel to express their views and influence decisions affecting their lives.
The relaunch, held Thursday, August 13, 2026, in Monrovia, was conducted under the theme “Nurture, Empower, Protect (NEP): Harnessing the Full Potential of Adolescent Girls in Liberia Joint Program.” The initiative is being implemented by UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with the Government of Liberia and with financial support from Ireland.
The renewed U-Report initiative is expected to reach at least 8,000 young people across Liberia, who will serve as youth reporters and ambassadors, providing feedback on the implementation and impact of programs targeting adolescents and young people.
Speaking at the launch, UNICEF Deputy Representative for Program Amadou A. Cisse described the relaunch as an important milestone in promoting meaningful participation by children and youth.
“Nothing can be done for you without your active and intentional participation. U-Report is exactly what meaningful youth participation means,” Cisse said.
He urged young participants to take ownership of the platform and become ambassadors for Liberian children and adolescents.
“You are ambassadors. We don’t need only you, but you are the ambassadors of Liberian girls and boys, youth girls and boys,” he said.
Cisse said the U-Report relaunch forms part of the broader NEP Joint Program being implemented with UNFPA and the Government of Liberia, with Irish support, to nurture, empower and protect adolescent girls.
The platform is designed to allow young people to participate in surveys, access trusted information, report concerns and provide feedback on programs and policies affecting their communities.
Giving an overview and demonstration of the platform, Tamba Fayiah, Statistics and Monitoring Officer and Liberia U-Report focal person, said U-Report is designed to ensure that children and young people who are often excluded from decision-making processes can contribute their opinions.
He explained that the platform is not entirely new to Liberia, having previously been used during the Ebola outbreak to disseminate accurate information and gather community views at a time when physical interaction was severely restricted.
Fayiah said the platform provides an important mechanism for reaching young people in rural and hard-to-reach communities.
“If we want to go in the field to get that information, it will be resource constrained. We may not go to all the areas. But with U-Report, people can communicate through SMS,” he explained.
He said users can participate without internet access by using SMS, making the platform accessible to young people with basic mobile phones.
Fayiah also emphasized the platform’s confidentiality, saying users can express themselves without their individual identities being disclosed.
“The system is designed to be encrypted so that people can freely say what they want to say without fear of being pursued,” he said.
According to Fayiah, U-Report enables partners to conduct polls on issues including health, water and sanitation, sexual and reproductive health and other social concerns. Responses can then be analyzed by location, including county, to help policymakers and development partners understand where specific challenges are concentrated.
He said the information collected would ultimately be used to improve programs and ensure that interventions respond to the actual needs expressed by young people.
Fayiah disclosed that Liberian youth can currently access U-Report by using an Orange SIM card and texting “JOIN” to 5858. He said users do not need internet access to participate and will not be charged for using the service.
“We’re hoping that the U-Report will reach everyone so that they all can make their opinions available,” he said.
He noted that UNICEF is working to expand the platform to other networks and communication channels, including Lonestar Cell MTN, WhatsApp and Facebook.
The platform also includes a chatbot through which young people can request information on issues such as menstrual health, gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health.
Speaking on behalf of UNFPA, Data and Evidence Specialist Chea Sanford Wesseh thanked UNICEF for the initiative and said U-Report would strengthen youth access to information and community reporting.
“We are excited to be a part of this initiative to nurture, empower, and protect young people in our country,” Wesseh said.
He said the platform could help young people acquire knowledge and use that information to protect themselves from social challenges, including gender-based violence.
Wesseh urged young people to use the platform responsibly and encourage their peers to join.
“We hope that this beginning will inspire some of your colleagues that are not part of the launch to join this platform and to contribute to knowledge sharing, to contribute to information exchange,” he said.
The Ministry of Health also endorsed the initiative.
Satta T. Massaley Sow, School Health Coordinator in the Ministry’s Family Health Division, said the platform would help ensure that adolescents have access to accurate information on health and their rights.
“We want you to connect other youth with this platform so that it becomes something that anyone can utilize and report any issues surrounding sexual and reproductive health,” Sow said.
She pledged the Ministry’s continued engagement with young people through the platform.
Representatives of youth and children’s organizations also welcomed the relaunch, describing U-Report as an important opportunity for young people to communicate their concerns.
Grace V. Kamara of the Adolescent Girls Advisory Panel said the platform would give adolescent girls greater opportunity to speak about mental health and other health concerns.
Fanell Decontee Dewee of SAUTI Voices urged adolescent girls to become ambassadors of U-Report, saying the platform would provide useful information on issues affecting them, including menstrual health.
Corina D. Ker Kula of the Liberian National Children Forum, speaking on behalf of Liberia’s more than 2.5 million children, thanked UNICEF for creating a platform capable of reaching children across the country.
