This practitioner research was carried out by the Accountability Lab, a civil society organisation that works with youth in Liberia around transparency and accountability. The research aimed to assess the organisation’s efforts to engage in an adaptive learning process, and to interrogate its efforts to improve Liberia’s accountability ‘ecosystem’. In Liberia’s post-conflict context, there is a new generation of young people coming of age who did not experience the conflict, which stretched from 1989 to 2003. The Lab considers this an opportunity to engage with them in new ways and support them to become actors in a process of building positive accountability dynamics. Accountability Lab’s research took a multi-method approach that included citizen surveys, focus groups and key informant interviews. Through this process, the Lab was able to gain insights into how to improve their efforts within the local Liberian context. This included insights into strategies for reaching citizens outside the capital, Monrovia; how and with whom to expand their networks and partnerships to create local hubs in the interior; and how to engage their local staff in research processes. The research also shed light on Liberia’s accountability landscape, finding that efforts to build governance have so far focused on institution-building, creating laws and institutions that do not always match local norms and culture. In response to this, the Lab developed a people-centred strategy proposing to train champions and create networks that can positively affect mindsets and change behaviours, embedding accountability and transparency in local culture progressively over time. The paper ends with a reflective conversation with Accountability Lab’s Executive Director and Research Adviser. They discuss what the research revealed about the accountability landscape in Liberia, their work with youth, and innovative tools such as an accountability incubator, the use of information and communications technology (ICTs) in fragile settings, and balancing long-term processes that build trust with more immediate accountability needs.
Key themes of this paper:
• Transparency and accountability in post-conflict settings
• The use of arts and culture to open up spaces for accountability engagement
• Youth-centred initiatives
• Bridging the demand and supply sides of accountability in centralised political systems
• The use of ICTs for data collection
• The limitations of ICTs in reaching vulnerable populations in fragile contexts