2020 - 2022
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN
COMMITMENTS
Commitment I: Establishment of an online registry for beneficial ownership
The commitment is to establish a publicly available online portal documenting the legal ownership of businesses. The goal is to prevent conflicts of interest and provide public and transparent information for citizens.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
The commitment will establish an online public register showing legal ownership of overseas companies. It seeks to increase transparency and limit the ability to use overseas businesses as safe havens.
The commitment will establish an online public register showing legal ownership of overseas companies. It seeks to increase transparency and limit the ability to use overseas businesses as safe havens.
The commitment relates to OGP values by increasing transparency of information and allowing citizens to monitor the use of public and private funds.
State Actors:
Liberia Business Registry
Civil Society, Private Sector:
iLab Liberia.
Commitment II: Publication of Budget Documents
The commitment seeks to address the issues of weak legislative oversight, auditing, and public participation in the budgetary process
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
Opening the budget process for citizen participation in order to increase understanding of government resource allocation and management
The commitment will make budgetary executive, speech, and audit reports available to the public, with the goal to increase citizen engagement in the budgetary process. The commitment also allows for legislative oversight and creates audit mechanisms in an effort to increase accountability
The commitment is central to the OGP values of transparency and citizen participation as it increases accountability through budget transparency and formal oversight mechanisms.
State Actors:
Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDA)
Civil Society, Private Sector:
Commitment III: Support Capacity for Citizen Participation in Legal Issues
Access to justice remains out of reach for a vast number of citizens in Liberia. Citizens are largely unaware of how the justice system works. Current government systems lack the capacity to implement the rule of law effectively.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
The commitment seeks to ensure access to justice for citizens through educating jury members, training magistrates, monitoring local courts and increasing citizen awareness of legal rights and access to justice.
The commitment will build capacity within the justice system and engage citizens through education and access at the local level.
The commitment will increase citizen engagement by making available information regarding the law and related regulations. It increases accountability by creating jury management offices and training civil servants.
State Actors:
Ministry of Justice
Civil Society, Private Sector:
Commitment IV: Adopting Open Contracting Standards
Perceptions of integrity in the public sector are very low. Lack of integrity undermines trust between citizens and government and leads to high levels of corruption and mismanagement. This deters honest young Liberians from entering the civil service.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
The commitment supports the passage of laws to support integrity and accountability of public servants; and supports the development of an anti-corruption court. It also develops a National Integrity Committee, and integrates integrity and accountability education into the public school system.
The commitment creates a legal framework in order to establish guidelines for public officials. It increases training opportunities and creates a network of honest government officials to build the values of accountability and integrity within institutions and schools.
This commitment seeks to strengthen institutional values and promote the culture of accountability as a hallmark for service delivery. It also encourages integrity as the foundation for deepening societal value-systems.
State Actors:
Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission
Civil Society, Private Sector:
.
Commitment V: Supporting Institutions of Integrity
The public in Liberia has very little knowledge of where critical bills and laws are in terms of approval within the legislative process. This prevents them from monitoring these bills and advocating for their passage at the relevant moments. Understanding where critical bills and laws (such as the Whistleblower and Witness Protection Acts, Decent Work Bill and Local Government Act) are being held up within the legislative process can help us to understand where and when pressure should be applied to support the completion of the process and ensure the rights of citizens.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
This commitment will create a database to track laws and bills within the legislature; and provide regular reports on the status of these laws and bills matched with roundtables to allow for discussion.
This effort to open up the legislative process will provide citizens with information they need to understand how bills and law are progressing. It will create space for public hearings and citizen comments on draft legislation, and the basis for relevant advocacy campaigns.
The commitment will provide an opportunity for citizens and civil society organizations to track, support and organize around the legislative processes. It will open up parliament to public scrutiny and public participation.
State Actors:
Governance Commission, LACC, LRC, and MOFA
Civil Society, Private Sector:
CAPDOG, CENTAL, CUPPADL, CEMESP, IREDD, LMC, iLab Liberia.
Commitment VI: Adopting Open Contracting Standards
Millions of dollars are lost every year through corrupt contracting and lack of transparent procurement processes for public contracts, especially related to public infrastructure.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
The commitment seeks to improve accountability through open contracting. It adopts international standards, makes contracting information open to the public, and creates a forum to provide oversight for procurement processes.
Publishing contracting information increases government accountability, promotes fairer competition, encourages civic oversight and helps the government learn from previous successes and failures.
Contract transparency is essential for the responsible management of resources and the potential for growth and economic development that resources can provide. Publishing information on how the Liberian government is managing resources will increase public participation and open avenues for the public to hold he government accountable for use of funds
State Actors:
Public Procurement & Concession Commission
Civil Society, Private Sector:
Commitment VII: Improve Health Care Delivery
Lack of adequate health services and facilities, low accountability in health supply chains, lack of public information on health services, low citizen participation in the management of health care delivery systems and inaccessibility of adequate health facilities.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
The commitment is a road map to improve the health care service delivery through promoting transparency and accountability, citizen participation and open information in two years.
The commitment will increase access to healthcare services by opening up information on supplies, budgets and facilities. It will create guidelines, track supply chains, and involve county health boards in oversight of processes.
This commitment will increase transparency and accountability by tracking resource allocation and providing increased access to healthcare services. It will increase citizen participation by recruiting and training healthcare professionals.
State Actors:
Ministry of Health
Civil Society, Private Sector:
Commitment VIII: Engaging Citizens in the Legislative Process
Lack of public knowledge of bills that are brought for vote in Congress, preventing the passage of important laws such as the Whistleblower and Witness Protection Act. Low public participation has led lack of public support for critical bills and little confidence from citizens in the legislative process.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
This commitment will increase citizen participation in the legislative process by making information accessible, monitoring and tracking laws and bills brought to vote, and providing regular reports on the status of these laws and bills both through printed materials and online. It will also increase public discussion panels.
The commitment aims to increase transparency in the legislative process by providing citizens with information to help them better understand which bills and law are going through the voting process. It will create spaces for public hearings, citizen engagement on draft legislation, and relevant advocacy campaigns.
The commitment will increase participation by providing the opportunity for citizens and civil society organizations to track, support and organize around the legislative processes. It will increase transparency by opening the parliamentary process to public scrutiny.
State Actors:
National Legislature
Civil Society, Private Sector:
Commitment IX: COVID-19 Rapid Response Mapping
The need for updated, reliable, and verified information on healthcare facilities is very crucial for diverse response interventions in the fight against COVID-19. Data of this nature could support various response actors ranging from Central government, development actors to community dwellers. Using accessible and location-based information can support the supply chain, COVID-19 testing, and treatment as well as services offered by other healthcare facilities that can be easily accessed by the public nationwide.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
This commitment will collect, analyze, map, and visualize all functional healthcare and COVID-19 facilities, cases, and share them in formats (maps, infographics, and downloadable datasets) that are accessible to everyone to respond to both emergency health crises like COVID-19 and other regular healthcare services across Liberia.
Lack of access to healthcare facilities information, COVID-19 testing, precautionary observatory centers, and treatment units is posing problems to the COVID-19 response efforts. As a lack of public access to this data, voluntary testing, acquiring specific healthcare services continues to impede access to specialized health provision, nationwide.
The commitment addresses the pillars of open data, access to information, and citizens' participation in acquiring as well as providing the requisite healthcare services to the general public.
State Actors:
Civil Society, Private Sector:
iLab Liberia.
Commitment X: Supporting Public Engagement to Support Taxpaying
Extremely low tax enforcement levels and corruption in the taxpayer system. Lack of clarity around the identity of LRA employees. There remains limited access to tax and related information to help the public understand the system and the use of taxpayer money.
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
The commitment is the creation of an application that will enable taxpayers and the general public to confirm the identity of a professed LRA staff/employee. The App enables taxpayers and members of the public to identify LRA employees, with the option to file a complaint or a compliment. Complaints will be immediately investigated by the LRA and appropriate action will be taken. Those commended will be recognized by the LRA as outstanding civil servants. The commitment also involves the creation of Liberia Tax TV, which will provide public information on tax services.
The app will fight fraud and build trust in government. The TV will provide information on the processes and procedures of paying taxes, and also how taxes are used for public benefit.
This commitment will enhance transparency in the tax system and increase public confidence in paying taxes. It will increase accountability by eliminating corruption and recognizing employees with integrity. It will disseminate information on tax payment processes and budget allocations of taxpayer funds.
State Actors:
Liberia Revenue Authority
Civil Society, Private Sector:
Commitment XI: Create a Gender-Based Violence Monitoring System
Gender-based violence and income inequality
What is the commitment?
Commitment contribution to public problem
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
Actors Involved
The commitment is to conduct post module tests in four countries, create a transparent mapping system of civil society, and create a monitoring system for gender-based violence across public service departments.
The commitment will increase transparency around poverty and gender-based violence by highlighting these issues and hold those responsible accountable for their actions.
The commitment increases public information through new mapping, tracking and justice initiatives and mechanisms.
State Actors:
Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Civil Society, Private Sector: