MONROVIA – The World Bank helped pay for Liberia’s newest accountability tool. Now it wants Liberian institutions to use it well. Country Manager Georgia Wallen praised the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and partner integrity institutions at the dashboard’s launch. Her deeper message was a caution. A dashboard does not fight corruption simply by existing. Its credibility depends on complete, timely, validated data and clear responsibility for updates. Its value depends on institutions, policymakers, and citizens acting on what it shows. The platform sits within the World Bank-funded GREAT Project, alongside the digitalization of asset declaration and verification. As THE ANALYST reports, donor money has built the screen, and only Liberian political will can make it matter.
In a major step toward strengthening public financial management and institutional integrity, the World Bank, in partnership with the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and key integrity bodies, has officially launched the Liberia Anti-Corruption Dashboard.
Speaking at the launch ceremony in Monrovia, the World Bank Country Manager in Liberia, Madam Georgia Wallen, congratulated the LACC, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), the General Auditing Commission (GAC), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) for transforming a vision of centralized accountability into a functional digital reality.
“The Anti-Corruption Dashboard started as an idea. Today, the idea has become a reality,” the World Bank Country Manager stated during the official unveiling.
“On behalf of the World Bank, I would like to congratulate the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, and the other integrity institutions that have worked together to make this important milestone possible. Hearty congratulations to Liberia for another step forward,” Wallen said.
Centralizing Integrity Data for Public
The newly launched platform brings together anti-corruption and governance metrics traditionally dispersed across various state systems into a structured, easily accessible platform for government officials, civil society organizations, researchers, media practitioners, and the general public.
Highlighting the structural value of the platform, the World Bank head emphasized three core pillars that will determine the dashboard’s ultimate impact: information access, data quality, and practical usage.
“Effective anti-corruption systems depend not only on strong laws and institutions, but also on credible information about how key institutions perform,” the World Bank official explained.
“The dashboard makes an important contribution by bringing together information that was traditionally dispersed across various institutions and systems into a more easily accessible and structured form,” the World Bank Country Manager said.
Addressing data quality and public trust, the Country Manager stressed that the dashboard is only as credible as the information behind it, noting that public confidence will ultimately depend on data completeness, timeliness, validation prior to publication, and clear institutional responsibility for keeping the platform current.
“Transparency is essential for accountability – but it’s only part of the equation,” the Bank official noted regarding information use.
“The value of this dashboard goes far beyond the number of indicators it displays or the number of people who visit the website; the true value depends on how the information is used. When information is used by institutions to improve performance, by policymakers to identify problems and follow up on them, and by citizens and civil society to engage government constructively, it can make a difference for Liberia’s future,” she said.
The World Bank further expressed hope that the dashboard will serve as a dynamic tool for two-way engagement, allowing civil society, journalists, researchers, businesses, and young people to provide feedback while enabling institutions to demonstrate how that feedback is addressed.
Digitalizing Governance Under GREAT Project
The establishment of the Anti-Corruption Dashboard is supported by the World Bank Group through the Governance Reform and Accountability Transformation (GREAT) Project.
Under the GREAT Project framework, the World Bank’s collaboration with the LACC extends beyond the dashboard to include the full digitalization of asset declaration and verification systems, alongside targeted measures to enhance prevention, detection, and institutional enforcement capacity across the public sector.
“The broader direction is important: moving from fragmented and manual processes toward stronger digital systems; from information held within individual institutions toward appropriate data-sharing and interoperability; and from reporting activities toward measuring results and following up on weaknesses,” the Country Manager outlined.
Aligning with ARREST, Vision 2030
She highlighted that the launch marks another concrete step in strengthening Liberia’s integrity architecture in direct alignment with national priorities articulated under Liberia’s Vision 2030 and the government’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID). Wallen reaffirmed that support for accountability architecture remains central to the Bank’s country partnership model in Liberia, which focuses primarily on building stable economic foundations to generate more and better-paid jobs for citizens.
“The success of the dashboard will ultimately depend on regular updating with reliable information, effective use to strengthen performance, and robust scrutiny to advance transparency. This requires all of us to use the information responsibly and constructively,” the Country Manager said.
“The World Bank is pleased to have supported this initiative through the GREAT Project, and we look forward to continuing our support for Liberia’s efforts to turn better information into stronger institutions, stronger accountability, and greater impact on Liberia’s bright and prosperous future,” she concluded.