InfoQuest Liberia has officially launched its first legislative monitoring report for 2025.
The report which covers the month of January revealed significant gender disparities in legislative representation especially at the House of Representatives with 43 male legislators present compared to only 6 female legislators.
The report captured the lack of specific gender-focused provisions during the January session discussions on key legislative matters, such as the Rivercess Community Development Act, which aims to improve community development.
He assuredthe media that , InfoQuest will provide recommendations to strengthen the gender sensitivity of said bill.
According to the Acting Executive Director of InfoQuest Liberia Ezekiel Allen, there is more that needs to be done in order to address such huge gender disparities in Legislative representation.
Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Allen said the project among other things aims to enhance legislative accountability and responsiveness through increased monitoring and advocacy.
The project, which began in January 2025, He told reporters focuses on tracking gender-sensitive legislative engagements, monitoring lawmakers’ responsiveness to gender-related issues, and promoting civic engagement on gender-sensitive governance.
He announced significant strides made in the first month of the project to include formal engagement with the Legislature, securing official protocols for monitoring activities, and initiating discussions with key stakeholders, such as the Speaker’s Office and committee chairpersons.
As part of the project, he added that a digital monitoring platform has been developed for tracking legislative actions on gender-related policies.
Additionally, four legislative monitors (two males, two females) were trained in gender-sensitive legislative monitoring and are equipped with manual tracking tools that will later be integrated into the digital system.
Despite early successes, Mr. Allen named challenges such as limited access to committee meetings which have posed hurdles, but was quick to mention that InfoQuest, is however actively engaging legislative leadership to expand monitoring opportunities.
Moving forward, he informed the press that February activities which will run into March will focus on strengthening legislative engagement through high-level meetings with key committee leaders and advancing the gender-responsive legislative monitoring framework.
As part of its commitment to transparency and public engagement, InfoQuest will provide regular press briefings to share updates and key findings from its monitoring activities, he noted.
Mr. Allen reemphasized that such initiative underscores the importance of gender-responsive governance in Liberia and seeks to drive policy changes that promote equity in legislative processes.
Meanwhile, the Acting Executive Director of InfoQuest, Ezekiel Allen who thanked the Irish Embassy accredited near Monrovia for such key support to the project also assured them that InfoQuest remains committed to successfully implementing the project especially in meeting its desire aims and objectives to the core.
