Bridging the Disconnect… Why Communication is Crucial to Promoting Extractive Transparency

In May 2007, the Liberia Government endorsed the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative or EITI, and was subsequently accepted in September 2007 as an EITI candidate country. Its overarching mandate is to ensure the disclosure and publication, on a disaggregated basis, of all material payments made by the private sector to all agencies, entities and levels of the Government, and all corresponding revenues received by all agencies, entities and levels of the Government from the private sector.

Since endorsing the EITI 2007, Liberia has gained international acclaim as one of the best performing EITI compliant countries. Like most of the EITI countries, the Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI) is directed by the Multi-stakeholder Steering Group comprising representatives of the Government of Liberia (GOL), led by the Ministry of Finance; civil society representatives, representatives of the private sector to include companies operating in the oil, mining and forestry sectors; and representatives of multilateral institutions including the World Bank, African Development Bank, IMF, DFID, and the US Government. The steering committee is charged with making policy relating to and guiding the implementation of the LEITI.

In 2011, The Liberia Media Center was contracted to partner with the LEITI Secretariat to conduct a study and develop the community strategy for the LEITI.

This study is the outcome of the “Communications Strategy” implementation process that began in May 2008, designed as a platform for outreach and engagement of the public through the use of diverse mass media channels. The strategy was prepared by the Liberia Media Center and implemented by the LEITI Secretariat.

The strategy sought to broadly promote access to information, citizens’ engagement and participation around the EITI process in Liberia with the overarching objective of promoting increased accountability and transparency amongst LEITI stakeholders involved with disclosure and compliance issues.

More specifically, the strategy was developed to support the LEITI Secretariat in communicating the program with a coherent, organized and results-focused approach to its key stakeholders and the general public.

It proposed a sequential methodology for implementing the various communication activities which centered around five key outputs starting with a baseline study to determine the level of knowledge base amongst stakeholders with the view of setting a realistic benchmark for success.

The strategy called for the use of various mass media channels and communication support interventions including use of radio, television, town-hall style sensitization events, school outreach, web-based tools including website, and e-newsletter, and more crucial, the appointment of an in-house communication specialist to assist in rolling out the program and tracking the progress of the strategy.

Nonetheless, to establish the impact of the strategy, critical questions must be answered. To what extent was investment made towards meeting the “strategic communication” objectives? Who were targeted? In what manner and form were the respondents targeted? What has been the overall strategy in communicating to the various target groups? What was the most profound impact yield of the exercise? These questions are crucial in assessing whether or not knowledge and awareness of the LEITI has brought any form of value to the process.

After three years of implementation, this study takes stock of how far the communication efforts have advanced knowledge and awareness levels amongst key stakeholders and the ordinary public. It examines all the activities that were implemented and how they have increased stakeholders understanding of and participation in the process.