PAYNESVILLE – BudgIT-Liberia Country Lead, Mr. Abraham Varney, praised the Executive Director and Management of the Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment (IWYE) for championing the call for an increase in the budgetary allotment for Family Planning within the Ministry of Health budget.
Varney made this statement during a one-day budget tracking workshop 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.”
The workshop, held at the Paynesville-Liberia Learning Center for Stakeholders, civil society, and community-based organizations, gathered seventy-five participants, including representatives from the Ministry of Health, Planned Parenthood Association of Liberia/PPAL, and journalists.
At the conclusion of his presentation at the one-day event, Varney commended IWYE for its commitment to ensuring that women and girls, including youth 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 impasse at the Capitol building may have hindered the institutions’ operations, he is optimistic that the approach utilized by IWYE has yielded significant results. “I am excited to see that your advocacy is generating the needed results.
“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.
“I am excited to join this call, and I hope we can do more in this field,” he added. Varney 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 these advocacy efforts often face resistance from government and traditional leaders; hence, there is a need to conduct awareness campaigns to sensitize the public, particularly those in rural and semi-rural Liberia, if IWYE aims to make informed decisions that will foster lasting change at the community level.
“A whole country had twenty thousand in its national budget for Family Planning services for many years. Your consistent advocacy and the methodology developed for professional dialogue with the government and relevant stakeholders have changed things around. That twenty thousand moved to forty thousand.
Today, we can boast that the amount has changed from forty thousand to fifty thousand. 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. This is a fight not just for IWYE, but a fight for all,” he added.
Varney further stated that for this 2% to be actualized, more professional dialogue with the government will need to be conducted by civil society groups advocating sufficient support for family planning services.
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 tech tools to clarify government budgets and track public spending for citizens, with the primary goal of enhancing transparency and accountability in government.
Focusing on four core program areas—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.
