InfoQuest Liberia, a leading civil society organization advocating for transparency and inclusive governance, has sharply criticized the Liberian Legislature for its continued failure to incorporate gender equity and social inclusion in its lawmaking processes.
The criticism follows the launch of InfoQuest’s first Quarter Report on its Gender-Sensitive Legislative Monitoring project, covering the House of Representatives’ activities from January to March 2025.
Speaking during the launch, Matthias Yeanay, Executive Director of InfoQuest Liberia, described the report as a wake-up call to lawmakers who, despite public rhetoric on equality, continue to sponsor and review legislation that either ignores or undermines the rights and needs of women, girls, and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
“We are seeing a troubling pattern of legislative proposals that are blind to gender realities,” Yeanay said. “Some bills pose direct threats to the rights of marginalized communities. Others simply fail to acknowledge that inclusion matters.”
According to the report, women remain drastically underrepresented in the House of Representatives—not just numerically, but in terms of speaking time, committee influence, and policy leadership. In contrast, women-led civil society organizations have remained visible and vocal, particularly in public hearings on environmental justice and public accountability.
InfoQuest conducted gender analyses of six key bills currently under legislative review. Among the most notable was the Act to Establish the Liberia Institute of Sign Language, a proposal aimed at supporting persons with hearing disabilities. While the intention was welcomed, the report noted that the bill fails to integrate with Liberia’s mainstream education system and overlooks the intersection of gender and disability—leaving out girls and women with hearing impairments.
To address this, InfoQuest recommends that the Institute be embedded within an existing institution such as the University of Liberia, ensuring greater access, recognition, and equity.
Another major bill analyzed was the Act to Establish the Ministry of Local Government, which aims to operationalize the 2018 Local Government Act. While the bill acknowledges gender mainstreaming, the report slams it for lacking any concrete implementation or accountability framework.
“Mainstreaming gender cannot be symbolic,” the report emphasized. “Without mechanisms for enforcement, it’s empty language that does nothing to advance equity.”
As part of its advocacy, InfoQuest has issued a series of policy recommendations for lawmakers. These include the implementation of gender equity audits across all government institutions, scholarship programs for women and girls in higher education, safe housing and learning environments at public universities, maternity leave and childcare policies in the public sector, enforced non-discriminatory hiring and promotion practices across ministries and agencies, and gender-responsive budgeting and legislative drafting standards.
InfoQuest is also calling for the creation of a national salary cap for elected and appointed officials to promote equity in public resource distribution.
Yeanay revealed that InfoQuest has finalized a comprehensive digital platform, set to launch this June. The platform will allow real-time monitoring of legislative activities, including gender-disaggregated data, bill tracking, and legislator participation analysis.
“This platform will be a game-changer for civil society, the media, and ordinary citizens seeking to hold their lawmakers accountable,” he said.
Despite facing obstacles such as restricted access to committee sessions and political tensions within the Legislature, InfoQuest reports that its gender-balanced monitoring team successfully gained access to plenary sessions, where it tracked real-time participation and gender dynamics in floor debates.
The group also formalized partnerships with the Office of the Speaker and key committee chairpersons, further expanding its access to internal legislative processes.
Yeanay used the occasion to thank the Embassy of Ireland for its continued partnership and financial support of the initiative.
“Your unwavering commitment to gender equity and democratic governance has been instrumental in making this work possible,” he noted.
He concluded with a strong call to action: “Inclusive governance is not a luxury—it is a democratic necessity. We urge government institutions, civil society, development partners, and citizens alike to join us in building a Liberia where no one is left behind.”
