Liberia Implementation Report 2017-2019
- Action Plan: Liberia Action Plan 2017-2019
- Dates Under Review: 2017-2019
- Report Publication Year: 2020
Liberia’s 2017–2019 action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... was implemented within a challenging context of political transition and economic turmoil. The majority of commitments did not result in open government reforms. However, Liberia made notable progress in citizens’ access to information and dispute resolution regarding land rights. Moving forward, Liberia’s multistakeholder forum should strategically focus where political, financial, and technical resources exist to advance Liberia’s open government agenda.
| Table 1. At a glance
Participating since: 2012 Action plan under review: Third Report type: Implementation Number of commitments: 10 Action plan development Is there a Multistakeholder forum: Yes Level of public influence: Consult Acted contrary to OGP process: No Action plan design Commitments relevant to OGP values: 10 (100%) Transformative commitments: 2 (20%) Potentially starred: 2 (20%) Action plan implementation Starred commitments: 0 (0%) Completed commitments: 0 (0%) Commitments with Major DIOG*: 1 (10%) Commitments with Outstanding DIOG*: 0 (0%) Level of public influence: Consult Acted contrary to OGP process: No *DIOG: Did it Open Government Commitments LR0027 Legislative Monitoring Database |
The Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Liberia joined OGP in 2012. Since, Liberia has implemented three action plans. This report evaluates the implementation of Liberia’s third action plan.
General overview of action plan
Liberia’s 2017–2019 action plan was implemented within a challenging context of political transition and economic turmoil. Of the 10 commitments, six did not result in a change in government practices, three resulted in marginal changes, and one, CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 7, resulted in major open government reforms.
Modest open government reforms include the appointment of additional public information officers and magistrates. Such reforms slightly increased citizens’ access to information and justiceTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi....
Liberia’s land reforms constitute the country’s greatest open government advances under this action plan. The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) increased citizens’ online access to land policies and laws, and made headway creating a land deed registry and tribal land inventory. Most importantly, the LLA recognized the legitimacy of alternative land dispute resolution and established the Special Presidential Review Committee to resolve land conflicts at the highest political level.
A lack of political will among the legislature (Commitments 1 and 6), implementing agencies (Commitment 9), and wider government (Commitment 8) stood as major challenges to implementation. Activities were often dependent on donor funding (Commitments 3, 5, and 7). Specifically, many activities related to open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... (in Commitments 5, 7, 8, and 10) saw limited implementation. The IRM researcher therefore recommends Liberia’s next action plan strategically focus where political, financial, and technical resources are available to advance open government reforms.
A starred commitment must meet several criteria:
- The commitment’s design was Verifiable, Relevant to OGP values, and had a Transformative potential impact. As assessed in the Design Report.
- The commitment’s implementation was assessed by IRM Implementation Report as Substantial or Complete.
Based on these criteria, Liberia’s action plan has no starred commitments.
Table 2. Noteworthy commitments
| Commitment description | Status at the end of the implementation cycle. |
| Commitment 6: Pass LegislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r... and Support Capacity BuildingEnhancing the skills, abilities, and processes of public servants, civil society, and citizens is essential to achieving long-lasting results in opening government. Technical specifications: Set of ac... for Integrity in Government
The commitment aimed to support the passage of critical laws to help ensure the integrity and accountability of public servants, support the development of capacity within the civil service, and build a network of honest government officials. |
This commitment saw limited completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More. Implementation was restricted to the incorporation of modules on integrity and accountability in the President’s Young Professionals Program training. Accountability Lab also held an annual Integrity Idol campaign, which had good participation and was well received by the public. |
| Commitment 7: Improve TransparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More in the Land Authority
The commitment, a continuation from the second national action plan, sought to increase the transparency of land ownership and use both on and off-line. It also aimed to provide a land dispute resolution mechanism through the Liberia Land Authority. |
This commitment was substantially completed and resulted in major changes to government practices. The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) took over management of the deed registry. It posted policies, laws, and updates on government activities on its website. It also created and implemented alternative land dispute resolution services that are preferred and widely used by the public. In addition, LLA simplified the deed registration process, created land survey regulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming ... and surveyor guidelines, and trained 16 new surveyors. It executed these activities within the context of the landmark passage of the Land Rights Act. That legislation protects community and tribal lands, expands land categories, and provides rights for communities and guidelines for adjudicating disputes. Additionally, the Land Administration Project will build a land administration system and support tribal land inventory. |
| Commitment 8: Improve Accountability and Value for Money through Open ContractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C... More
This commitment sought to improve accountability regarding and the value of money through open contracting. It intended to adopt international standards, provide access to information that can be used to judge the accountability of contracting processes, and create a forum to provide oversight of procurement processes. |
This commitment was not started. The main constraints to implementation included changes in the presidential administration (and, therefore, policy direction), changes in the Public ProcurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... More and Concessions Commission leadership, and leadership troubles at the Liberia Extractive IndustriesApplying open government values of transparency, participation, and accountability to extractive industries can decrease corruption, safeguard community interests and needs, and support environmental ... Transparency Initiative. |
Five Key IRM Recommendations
The IRM key recommendations are prepared in the IRM Design Report. They aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan. In Liberia’s 2017–2019 Design Report, the IRM recommended the following:
| Seek out and include citizens’ perspectives—through commitments, milestones, and/or activities generated by the public and milestones and/or activities matching Liberians’ circumstances, interests, and hopes. |
| Align the national action plan’s development with the Government of Liberia’s budget calendar to ensure time to request budget allocation and expenditure for OGP activities. |
| Get a summary of ministries’ and agencies’ current and planned programs, related roles, and results before the national action plan’s development. |
| Map the steps and stakeholders required to implement commitments within current contexts, and as technology is integral to meeting milestones, include the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in planning and implementation. |
| Build coherence within the national action plan’s monitoring and evaluation using a common framework for data creation and sharing. |
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