Social Accountability Monitors are playing a vital role in overseeing public resource management and service delivery across the country, using digital tools to promote citizen engagement, accountable governance and inclusive development. With support from UNDP Liberia and the UN Peacebuilding, a trained County Accountability and Advocacy Teams, (CAATs) are actively engaged in monitoring county development projects and government’s commitment to public services. They have met with local county administrators including superintendents, county development and finance officials to share information and updates of their works. 

These meetings have been productive, and the county authorities have committed to collaborating with our social accountability monitors by providing information about the ongoing, and completed projects, as well as sharing financial and contract documents with those monitors who are seen as the voices of the people. County administrators are positive and expressed appreciation for the program to monitor and track the workings of county development projects to ensure accountability and transparency in local government administration and government commitments. 

Within one month, June to July 2025 period, CAAT members have visited, monitored, documented and reported on 240 projects across the 15 counties, with 75% of those projects visited ongoing, others are delayed due to low funds and transitioned. Naymote’s initiative implemented across the 15 counties is a significant step forward in fostering community-led governance. These Social Accountability Monitors are now the eyes and ears of their counties, holding their governments accountable, preventing corruption at the grassroots level and demanding responsive local governance.

For instance, the Gbarma Health Center in Gbarma Town, Gbarpolu County, had been abandoned by the County administration since 2017. The CAAT engagement and advocacy in Gbarpolu County have led to the commencement of work. The CAAT members in Gbarpolu County were invited on July 30 to witness a public hearing on the 2025 development budget at Bopolu City where the County Finance Officer Howard P. Bunday presented the draft development budget of $706,666.00 USD to the County Council for deliberation and approval.

On July 30th, 2025, the CAAT team visited the construction of the Presidential Palace in Foya District, Lofa County to access progress on the building and understand the cost. The team engagement with the engineer learned that the project cost $10M. However, the team couldn’t access the BOQ and other supportive documents, but the project is ongoing. The Lofa CAAT monitoring and advocacy is promoting access to public information and service delivery, citizens of Lofa have for the first access to the 2024 county resolutions, disbursement funds list and how county and social development funds are managed. July 28, 2025, Lofa County CAAT monitored and received the waybill of huge drugs delivered to Tellewoyan Memorial hospital in Voinjama City, they were invited by the leadership to ensure accountability. 

In Maryland, CAAT monitoring and advocacy has led to county administration being transparent in managing county development funds and efforts to fulfill government commitments are ongoing. The county administration of Maryland County is working with the CAAT to create a clear line of information sharing using various platforms to inform citizens about county development projects.

Peter P. Toe, Jr of the CAAT-Maryland County, said “Maryland District 2 Representative Hon. Anthony Williams praised the CAAT, NAYMOTE Liberia and UNDP for the initiative, describing it as an enforcement of accountability on the different jobs they do as politicians”.

The work of CAAT continues to receive significant recognition, and appreciation through radio talk shows, meetings and public engagements, citizens are talking about the county development projects and funds due to the level of awareness created by the CAAT; this initiative is promoting citizen-led oversight on local development and fostering local democratic accountability framework.

CAAT members visits across various projects locations have not only affirmed commitment and dedication to grassroots monitoring but have also led to the successful access and review of key government commitments and institutional records of the different projects, and strengthened transparency in the process. These engagements have enhanced data collection and validation efforts, enabling the teams to track resources and outcomes with greater precision using practical application of ComCare, a digital tool enabling real-time monitoring of public expenditure and service delivery, viewed through a gender-responsive lens. Data collected and findings are shared with the country administration and county councils with actionable recommendations.

Naymote has remained a leading force in advancing social accountability in Liberia, consistently contributing to the deepening of democratic gains. According to the institution’s Executive Director, Eddie D. Jarwolo, the CAAT initiative is changing the narrative demanding more from their government. Eddie called on the government to allocate more funds for county development as the $186,666 per county is not enough to address the needs of the people. A total of $2,799,990 is allocated in the national budget for development across the 15 counties (186K per county) with few counties like Nimba, Bassa, Bong, Bomi etc receiving social development funding is undermining the implementation of the county development agendas. The Naymote boss is recommending national government to allocate $1M per electoral districts totaling $73M across the 73 electoral districts for local development, this allocation would be managed by a selected team of experts under the district development councils and strong oversight from legislature and citizens. This he believes will fast track the full implementation of the county development agendas.

This project "Empowering Citizens and Communities to Foster Social Accountability and Transparency in Governance and Public Service Delivery", is funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund and facilitated by UNDP Liberia in partnership with Naymote. The initiative marks a significant milestone in community-driven governance and reflects Liberia’s commitment to inclusive and transparent development.