BudgIT Liberia Extols Women’s Advocacy Group

By: Keith Morrison| Staff Writer

Paynesville City, Montserrado County –Friday, May 16, 2025-A civic organization that uses technology to intersect citizen engagement with institutional improvement that facilitates societal change has praised a women’s advocacy group for its role in Liberia. The efforts of the Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment (IWYE) were recognized recently in Paynesville by BudgIT-Liberia Country Lead, Abraham Varney at a one day workshop. At the one-day forum, Mr. Varney praised the Executive Director and management of the group for championing the call for increase in the budgetary allotment for Family Planning within the Ministry of Health’s annual budget.

The one-day budget tracking workshop was organized by IWYE under the theme, “Strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations on budget preparation, allotment process, and tracking for effective advocacy with the government of Liberia for an increase in SRHR funding.” SRHR is sexual reproductive health rights services. 

Held at the Paynesville—Liberia Learning Center for Stakeholders, civil society, and community-based organizations, the forum brought together seventy-five participants, including representatives from the Ministry of Health, Planned Parenthood Association of Liberia/PPAL, and the media.

Making a presentation at the one-day event, Abraham Varney commended IWYE for its commitment to ensuring that women and girls, including youths across Liberia, enjoy free and affordable Sexual Reproductive Health Rights/SRHR services.

He stated that SRHR services must be a government priority; thus, while the recent impasse at the Capitol Building may have hindered the institutions’ operations, he is optimistic that the approach utilized by IWYE achieved its goal. 

“I am excited to see that your advocacy is generating the needed results,” Varney said. “You are championing the call for the Family Planning budget to be increased –  a decision that is going to help protect the future of the youthful generation of this country”.

Varney hopes that activists in the sector can all do more in amplifying their voices in field.  He also emphasized that advocacy is not merely an event but a continuous process that requires consistency, commitment, time, resources, and passionate individuals who are intentional about their desired change.

He noted that often, advocacy efforts face resistance from governments and traditional leaders; hence, there is a need to conduct awareness campaigns to sensitize the public. He made particular emphasis on rural and semi-rural Liberian settlements, if IWYE’s aims to make informed decisions must foster lasting change at community level.  

According to Varney, consistent advocacy has increased the budget for family planning from US$20,000 to US$40,000.

“The breaking news is that the government of Liberia has agreed to allocate 2% of the national budget to Family Planning services and programs. We are grateful for this milestone achievement,” Varney added.

He however stated that for the proposed 2% to be actualized, more professional dialogue with the government will need to be conducted by civil society groups advocating said increment.

BudgIT-Liberia is one of Liberia’s leading civic organizations that uses technology to intersect citizen engagement with institutional improvement to facilitate societal change.

As a pioneer in the field of social advocacy integrated with technology, BudgIT Liberia employs various technological tools to clarify government’s budgets and track public spending for citizens. The goal is to enhance transparency and accountability in government.

It focuses on four core program areas for its advocacy. They include, budget access, budget tracking, extractive transparency and institutional support.

BudgIT Liberia’s methodology utilizes advanced data mining skills to creatively present data in a manner that empowers citizens to use the resulting information to demand improved service delivery and, by extension, good governance.

Participants at the one-day event expressed joy over the knowledge acquired and promised to push farther in their advocacy for change.

Edited: Esau J. Farr| Sub-Editor