MONROVIA – Liberia’s civil society wants the state to carry a small share of its keep. A coalition of CSOs and elders wants 0.1 percent of the national budget set aside by law. Their case is simple survival. UNMIL is gone, and donors such as USAID and SIDA have scaled back. The groups say more than 2,500 organizations now face an acute funding crisis. The House adopted their petition in June; President Joseph Nyuma Boakai received it on September 1. They also want an interim peace commission by executive order. Boakai told them civil society must serve beyond compromise. The harder test is whether public money can fund watchdogs without dulling their bite, as THE ANALYST reports.
MONROVIA: President Joseph Nyuma Boakai Sr. has formally received a petition and Executive Brief from Liberian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) requesting a statutory 0.1% Legislative Budgetary Appropriation from the National Budget to address the acute sustainability crisis facing more than 2,500 civil society organizations across the country. The CSOs described the development as a monumental milestone in the socio-economic and political development of post-conflict Liberia, and briefed the press on the engagement in Monrovia on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.
The high-level presentation took place at the Executive Mansion on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, during a strategic consultative engagement organized under the umbrella of the Voices of The Elders (VOTE) – Republic of Liberia. The petition, along with the GoL-CSO Accord and Policy, was presented on behalf of the CSO Consortium Partners for Democracy & Good Governance (PdG) by Rev. Augustine S. Arkoi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Better Future Foundation (BFF) and Co-Chair of VOTE-R.L.
He was accompanied by a delegation of 16 elders and five youth representatives led by VOTE Chairperson Elder Maureen Johnson Hutchison, alongside statesmen and women including Sister Mary Laurene Browne, Dr. D. Evelyn S. Kandakai and Hon. Rupel Marshall.
According to the organizers, the Executive Mansion engagement represents the culmination of a rigorous, transparent and democratic process that commenced on December 12, 2025, during the CSO Consultative Forum, where the draft CSO Sustainability Bill was formally debated, adopted and signed by civil society leaders.
Following nationwide mobilization, the petition was formally submitted to the 55th National Legislature and subsequently adopted by the House Plenary on June 24, 2026. The organizers said the presentation to President Boakai on September 1, 2026, bridges legislative adoption with Executive endorsement, positioning domestic CSO co-financing for inclusion in the upcoming national budget debates.
Boakai Commits to Inclusive Governance
Receiving the delegation and the petition, President Boakai expressed appreciation for the presentation, highlighting its timeliness as his administration prepares the national budget for legislative debate.
The President commended the initiative and reaffirmed his commitment to inclusive governance under the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID), which seeks to rescue all sectors of Liberian society through participatory development without leaving any sector behind.
President Boakai used the three-hour consultation to emphasize the vital role of an uncompromised civil society in national growth.
The President underscored that civil society organizations must at all times serve the nation beyond compromise, anchoring their operations on the benchmarks of integrity, independence and genuine commitment to national development.
Expressing concern over retiree welfare and national patriotism, President Boakai noted, “We can burn the country, but we cannot sell it,” reminding all citizens that Liberia remains their shared responsibility and permanent home.
Anchored in 23 Years of Peace
The presentation of the CSO Sustainability Framework comes at a profound historical moment, coinciding with Liberia’s celebration of 23 years of unbroken peace since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) in Accra, Ghana, on August 18, 2003, as well as the global observance of the International Day of Peace on September 21.
As articulated in the keynote address by Ambassador Blamo Nelson during the 62nd National Unification Day observance organized by BFF and CSO partners, the Accra CPA served as a seven-point roadmap designed to transition Liberia from 14 years of civil devastation toward political tranquility and constitutional normalcy.
The CPA called for seven mandatory actions: a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities; the formation of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL); the complete disarmament and demobilization of all armed groups; the appointment of an independent National Elections Commission (NEC); the organization and conduct of free, fair, multiparty democratic elections; the inauguration of a democratically elected constitutional government; and the establishment of statutory integrity institutions to enforce laws and good governance compliance.
According to the CSOs, all citizen groupings and signatories, perpetrators and victims alike, have fully complied with the terms of the CPA, establishing over two decades of uninterrupted democratic governance.
However, civil society leaders emphasize that while the CPA successfully ended armed conflict, the total withdrawal of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and the scaling back of major bilateral donor funding, including from USAID and SIDA, have created a severe operational vulnerability for domestic non-governmental organizations.
Citing international best practices, such as statutory civil society funds established in Ghana, Sierra Leone, South Africa and various European democracies, the CSO-PdG Consortium emphasized that domestic budgetary allocations are essential to guarantee national ownership and prevent civil society extinction.
The consortium said the proposed 0.1% Legislative Budgetary Appropriation fulfills Section 7.2.1.5 of the GoL/CSO Partnership Policy and the GoL-CSO Accord (2016), which explicitly obligate the Liberian government to establish legal and financial mechanisms, including a dedicated Civil Society Trust Fund.
The framework incorporates rigorous accountability mechanisms, requiring audited financial statements, tax compliance, non-partisan affidavits and competitive proposal evaluations by an Independent Evaluation Panel as preconditions for CSOs to access the funds.
Executive Brief Policy Recommendations
Alongside the CSO Sustainability Bill, the delegation submitted a comprehensive Memorandum/Executive Brief detailing critical policy recommendations to solidify national stability. Chief among them is the promulgation of an Executive Order for an Interim National Peacebuilding and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC).
The Executive Brief outlines the structural limitations of the current peacebuilding architecture, which operates as a minor unit, the Liberia Peacebuilding Office (PBO), under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to the brief, an Executive Order establishing an autonomous NPRC will unify fragmented peacebuilding mandates, fulfill outstanding requirements of the 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Final Report and the Strategic Roadmap for National Healing (2013–2030), adhere to Article 5 of the 1986 Constitution, and decentralize conflict resolution across Liberia’s 15 counties and diaspora communities.
The brief also calls for the institutionalization of peace and civics education, embedding Civics and Peace Education into school curricula nationwide to foster patriotism and civic duty among Liberian youth. On environmental security, it calls for rapid intervention, alerting the administration to the existential threat posed by coastal erosion and Atlantic Ocean encroachment along Monrovia’s Sinkor–Congo Town land strip and urging immediate coastal defense projects to mitigate community displacement, trauma and economic loss.
President Boakai expressed gratitude for the comprehensive presentations and called for a follow-up engagement with VOTE-R.L. leadership at his Rehab residence to further examine the actionable recommendations.
Speaking at the CSOs’ press briefing in Monrovia on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, veteran educator Sister Mary Laurene Browne, former United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) development economist Dr. Anthony Barclay and VOTE Chairperson Elder Maureen Johnson Hutchison said civil society leaders and elders remain optimistic that Executive backing for the 0.1% Legislative Budgetary Appropriation and the interim NPRC Executive Order will seal President Boakai’s legacy as a transformative leader devoted to enduring peace, national unification and sustainable democratic development. The statement was issued by the Secretariat of the Better Future Foundation (BFF)/Partners for Democracy & Good Governance (PdG).