Liberia: Road to Redress - Monrovia Communities Organize to Hold a Climate Project Accountable

26 October 2026
Liberian Observer (Monrovia)
By Green Advocates International

With a major climate-resilience project about nine months from its scheduled completion, residents of Monrovia's coastal and mangrove communities are organizing to demand what they say they have not yet received: the project designs, a clear timeline and a way to hold implementers to account.

The Monrovia Metropolitan Climate Resilience Project (MMCRP), approved by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in March 2021, is valued at about US$25.6 million, including roughly US$17.3 million from the GCF and US$8.4 million in Liberian government co-financing. According to project information, it covers about 1,050 metres of coastal revetment at West Point, mangrove restoration, coastal-zone management and livelihood support, with about 250,000 people expected to benefit directly. The GCF record lists July 2027 as the estimated completion date.

Who is responsible

The MMCRP is a Government of Liberia project financed by the GCF. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the executing entity and runs implementation through a Project Management Unit (PMU) based at the agency. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the GCF-accredited entity. It provides oversight and quality assurance but does not replace the government's implementation responsibilities.

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The EPA works in close collaboration with three line ministries, each with a distinct role:

  • Ministry of Public Works (MPW): the government's main engineering counterpart. It is understood to provide technical clearance for infrastructure designs, support quality assurance of specifications, quantities and construction, and take part in supervising coastal-protection works. It has already cleared the detailed design, structural analysis and cost estimate for the planned Education & Innovation Centre in West Point.
  • Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP): coordinates government counterpart financing and budgeting, and helps align project investments with national development planning.
  • Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME): provides technical and policy input on coastal and geological conditions, shoreline dynamics and natural-resource management, and takes part in planning the coastal-protection measures.

The National Climate Change Secretariat is the GCF-listed contact for project complaints and grievances. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection is named as a partner on cross-sectoral gender work.

The split matters for residents. Questions about the design or construction of coastal defenses, such as the gaps reported in New Kru Town, fall largely to MPW and the EPA. Questions about budgets and government counterpart funds fall largely to MFDP. Residents told organizers they do not know which institution to approach about designs, compensation or flooding.

What residents say

Between July and August 2026, Green Advocates International (GAI), the Alliance for Rural Democracy and the Natural Resource Women Platform met residents of West Point, New Kru Town, Plumkor, Jallah's Town, Topoe Village and nearby mangrove communities. What they heard was consistent: people support coastal protection, but say the project is not being carried out transparently.

  • West Point: Residents asked whether the rock revetment will cover the whole coastline, given that official project descriptions refer to about 1,050 metres. They also asked why earlier demarcations appear to have changed and whether affected homes or property will be compensated. They alleged inconsistent demolitions and the loss of a recreational site without adequate consultation, and called on the EPA and the Ministry of Public Works to release the approved designs, maps and environmental and social documents. According to official project summaries, West Point lost about 30 metres of shoreline in the decade before the project and more than 670 homes were destroyed.
  • New Kru Town: Where works are already built, residents reported gaps and low sections in the rock barrier that let seawater through at high tide, worsening flooding and damaging homes. Fishermen asked how fishing access and livelihoods will be protected.
  • Mesurado River communities: Participants said they had seen project signboards but received little explanation of schedules, budgets or restrictions. They want action on flooding, mangrove loss and blocked waterways, and a role in environmental monitoring.
  • Topoe Village: The community chairman said project representatives once requested names of women for mangrove-planting training, but residents report no sustained follow-up. The community wants a full account of activities completed, resources spent and a timetable for what remains. Women's groups say the project's gender commitments should be visible in the community.

"When communities understand who funds a project, who implements it, what benefits are promised, what risks may arise and where grievances can be raised, they are better positioned to monitor implementation and participate meaningfully," said John Nimly Brownell of GAI.

The route to redress

The GCF's Independent Redress Mechanism (IRM) is an independent body that hears from people who believe they have been, or may be, harmed by a GCF-supported project. It can facilitate problem-solving, review compliance with GCF policies and monitor agreed remedies.

Facilitators urged residents to document concerns, preserve evidence such as photographs, videos, correspondence and meeting records, and use project-level grievance channels first, including the National Climate Change Secretariat and the EPA. If those fail, people can approach the IRM directly. According to the sessions, no special complaint form is required. Organizers used dialogue, printed materials and a "Road to Redress" board game to explain the process, and stressed that seeking redress is not opposition to development but a way to keep climate investments accountable to the people they are meant to serve.

From meetings to action

On September 25, 12 community representatives (five women, seven men) from three project locations met at GAI's office to form core groups that will document harm, keep grievance records and refer unresolved cases to project authorities, national institutions or the IRM.

On October 2, a one-hour discussion on OK FM's OK Morning Rush drew callers raising garbage-blocked waterways, mangrove cutting and conflicting information about the coastal-defense plans. "The design for the project has not been provided to us," said Francis Meah of West Point. "It will be good to see the project design."

For organizers, the test now is whether implementers respond. As climate finance expands in Liberia, communities say resilience must be measured not only in rock barriers and budgets, but in public trust, participation and access to remedy.

Read the original article on Liberian Observer.

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