ACTION NOT WORDS! Tracking Government’s 84 Promises In 150 Days

On April 19, 2012, the Liberia Media Center with support from Journalists for Human Rights and IREX Liberia launched the “150 Days Tracking Barometer”. The platform was developed in response to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s adoption of the 150 Action Plan on February 28, 2012. The plan was a precursor to a medium-term development agenda, “An Agenda for Transformation Through Action”. Unveiling the plan in an address to the nation, President Sirleaf said it “will pursue a healed and unified nation and an open, accountable and transparent democracy where empowered citizens can patriotically exercise their voice, their rights and their responsibilities”.

She enjoined civil society and the media to support her efforts by monitoring and evaluating the program. “Please don’t wait until things get out of hand before raising the red flag. I urge you to contact the relevant implementing agency or the coordinating LRDC to address or mitigate any shortcomings before they adversely affect delivery and outcome.” She called on the media to “become an effective and constructive partner with the Government in this
regard”.

We heeded the President’s call and designed this system to monitor progress around the implementation of each of the 84 promises made within the Action Plan. The initiative sought to promote transparency in the governance process by allowing citizens to access information on the status and success of government programs and promises via an independent outlet. The system worked by gathering reports on progress around each of the 84 promises and
illustrates the progress through a statistically supported web-based application. The overarching goal was to improve service delivery through improved oversight from non-state actors including civil society and the media. With this application, the statistical system automatically uploaded to the site the data that were keyed in from the field. Combining media monitoring methods, journalists’ field reports, utilization of a “Freedom of Information” request platform and engagement with relevant sector agencies, the system was designed to test state agencies’ business dealings with the public, their information sharing practice and overall client relations.