By Bill W. Cooper
BudgIT Liberia, in partnership with the Independent Information Commission (IIC) has successfully concluded a two-day Freedom of Information (FOI) Awareness, Compliance, and Records Management Training in Monrovia.
The initiative, held over the weekend at the Ministry of Information, Culture Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) is intended to reaffirm a national commitment to transparency and participatory governance in Liberia.
The training also aims to train over 500 government officials on proactive disclosure and digital records management to ensure that information requests are handled more efficiently and transparently.
The Budget Access Project, which runs from 2022 to 2024, showcases the impact of simplifying government financial data into digestible formats such as infographics.
These materials have helped citizens better understand and engage with the national budget, Varney explained, further noting that partnerships with institutions like the IIC and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) have been critical to the initiative’s success.
In his remarks, BudgIT Liberia Country Lead, Abraham Varney expressed heartfelt appreciation to MICAT, through Information Minister, Jarolimek Matthew Piah, and all participating institutions.
Varney also commended their unwavering dedication to upholding FOI principles and advancing public access to information, disclosing that the training is more than just a capacity building exercise.
He said, “It is a demonstration of Liberia’s resolve to institutionalize transparency, strengthen accountability, and empower citizens to participate meaningfully in governance. Collaborative efforts between government agencies and civil society as instrumental in bringing the FOI Act to life.”
Highlighting Liberia’s progress, Varney further cited a 150% increase in citizen engagement in budget processes from 6% in 2019 to 15% in 2023 based on the Liberia Public Participation Index.
He, however, attributed this growth to increased public access to budget information, especially through BudgIT Liberia’s townhall outreach across Bong, Bassa, Margibi, and Montserrado counties under the Budget Access Project, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Varney maintained, “Despite these gains, FOI compliance remains inconsistent across ministries and counties. Records management systems are under strain, impeding timely responses, and citizens, particularly whistleblowers, still encounter serious barriers when trying to access information.”
He announced that BudgIT Liberia and the IIC are developing a comprehensive three-year FOI Acceleration Project (2026–2028), adding that this forward looking initiative will focus on three pillars: enforcement and compliance, legal and structural reforms, and citizen empowerment.
“Under the enforcement pillar, the project will partner with SETAC Liberia, a new media and tech partner, to establish FOI Compliance Units in all 15 counties, and in terms of legal reform, the coalition will advocate for critical amendments to Liberia’s FOI law, including a revision of Section 4.3, which deals with response timelines, and the introduction of stronger protections for whistleblowers.
The importance of mandatory disclosure of public contracts, which would allow citizens to monitor infrastructure projects and service delivery more closely. Citizen empowerment remains a key focus. Plans are underway to scale up MICAT’s town hall engagement model to all counties,” he noted.
Varney asserted, “Civil society groups including CEMESP, the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), and SETAC Liberia will be involved in expanding community engagement. Additionally, a new media fellowship program will support journalists in investigating FOI use cases and documenting success stories to amplify impact.”
He then urged the Government to allocate domestic funding for FOI implementation, endorse the OGP Liberia National Action Plan, and expedite the release of the IIC Compliance Report, added, “We need to see FOI implementation not as a project, but as a fundamental public service.”
