PHOTO: Participants at the launching ceremony
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
A pro transparency organization, the Integrity Watch Liberia has officially launched the civil society organization budget platform to monitor the usage of the national budget , in collaboration with the Accountability Lab and the National Civil Society of Liberia.
Speaking at the launching ceremony at the weekend, Integrity Watch-Liberia Executive Director, Harold Aidoo stressed the need for civil society organizations to be robust in engaging the government to increase spending on issues involving women, children and people living with disability.
According to him, there has been a decline in citizens’ participation in the drafting and usage of the national budget in recent years.
Harold Aidoo
Mr. Aidoo added that because of this, the national legislature does not adequately make available resources in the interest of the ordinary people.
The Integrity Watch Liberia Director assured the public of active civil society organizations’ involvement in the deliberations on the allotment of the national budget by the legislature.
For her part, the Chairperson of the National Civil Society Council, Love-atta Pepe-Kai disclosed that the project aimed at monitoring the allotment and usage of the national budget is spear-headed by the Integrity Watch-Liberia and the Foundation Community Initiative
She pointed out that the FCI is currently implementing a project on behalf of the UN Women in some communities on the advancing the implementation of the Liberia National Plan on Peace and Security , which is gender responsive on budgeting and innovating financing.
Love-atta Pepe-Ka
“As a part of an on-going initiative, we taught that it will be better to broaden the consultation and the participation on gender responsive budgeting and planning by collaborating with the Integrity Watch so as to strengthen civil society organizations advocacy around our national budget on how we can be involved in the planning , designing and the implementation stages .”
According to her, this will involve the planning, the distribution , the and the violation so as to have citizens’ participation and say in the entire budget process.
Madam Pope-Kai stressed the need for the government to tell the true participation of citizens in the national budgeting process because it is of importance so as to have their aspirations adequately capture in the final stage of the national budget in the country.
According to her, Liberia’s performance in successive open budget survey has been declining gradually and the current budget process reveals that citizens have limited or no understanding of the state is committing itself to in its policy declaration.
She added that it is extremely complicated and technical nature of budget-making process and document does not allow citizens to participate have any say, or monitor the process.
The Chairperson of the National Civil Society Council also called on the media to support the CSOs involving the citizens’ participation in preparing, allotting and monitoring the usage of the national budget.
Meanwhile, the Country Director of Accountability Lab, Lawrence Yealue, stressed the need to revisit the legal framework on which the national budget is based so to ascertain whether the circle of the budget is in accordance with the law.
Mr. Yealue also said that this revalidation is necessary whether the circle is characterized by transparency and urged the CSOs to use the judicial system in testing whether the open governance and budgeting are followed in accordance to international best practice
According to him, there is a need to create the awareness in order for the citizens to actively demand accountability from the government.
Speaking on behalf of the UN Women in Liberia, the Program Specialist, Starvent Willie disclosed that the budget platform sets the basis for the discussion of the second most important document after the Liberian Constitution, the National Budget, which will transform the lives of the Liberian people.
He said the budget platforms set to educate the citizens, empower them and create citizens- government relationship, which will eventually help improve transparency and accountability within the government, said Mr. Willie.
Mr. Willie, who represented Madam Marie Goreth Nizigama, the Country Representative of the UN Women, expressed the UN Women’s commitment in supporting the civil society organizations in efforts to ensure the participation of women and children in the budget circle.