The Institute for Democratic Action and Development (IDAD), with funding support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has begun rolling out the Citizens Feedback Mechanism (CFM) awareness in ten Counties across Liberia.
By Obediah Johnson
Primarily, the Citizen’s Feedback Mechanism Is about citizens using their mobile phones and a designated short code (2424), or, writing directly into the relevant section of the CFM www.libtak.gov-lr/cfm), to send a short message indicating their experiences with the delivery of a particular public service.
The message is then verified and categorized by the CFM system and channeled immediately to the concerned service provider for feedback and action.
In subsequent engagements, the service provider (a MAC) communicates specific measures being taken to address the issue raised by the citizen.
A key feature of the design of the Citizens’ Feedback Mechanism consists in its escalation function. The message sent to the frontline provider is simultaneously relayed to higher levels within the service delivery chain, ensuring prompt response and resolution.
The counties the initiative has been rolled up in to ensure adequate public delivery services include: Margibi, Grand Bassa, Bomi, Gbarpolu, and Bong counties.
Others are Nimba, Lofa, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Maryland, and Sinoe Counties in Liberia).
Effective delivery of public services necessitates citizens’ active participation in and oversight of the processes involved. Often however, lack of adequate information about government policies, plans and services (types, availability, quantities, providers and budgets) constrains their meaningful exercise of this role.
The awareness seeks to strengthen citizen knowledge on how to send feedback on the CFM platform. These awareness meetings are being organized through Town hall meetings.
The Citizens feedback Mechanism is a national mobile and online platform for direct, near real-time exchange between the citizens and the Government of Liberia on the delivery of public services.
Through the CFM, citizens share their concerns and experiences regarding the delivery of public services with Liberian Government Ministries, Agencies or Commissions (MACs), and receive relevant timely feedback and redress from these entities. The CFM is part of the government commitment to improve public service delivery through monitoring and mitigating challenges.
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