Legislative Information Service - LIS

Happy Mother's Day Liberia.

Today, as we celebrate Mother’s Day, the Legislative Information Service proudly joins the nation in honoring the strength, love, sacrifice, and resilience of all mothers across Liberia and beyond.

As we commemorate 15 years of dedicated service and information dissemination within the Legislature of Liberia, we recognize the invaluable role mothers continue to play in shaping families, communities, and the future of our nation. Your care, wisdom, and unwavering commitment remain the foundation upon which stronger societies are built.

To every mother, grandmother, guardian, and mother figure, we say thank you for your endless sacrifices and unconditional love.

Happy Mother’s Day from the Legislative Information Service as we celebrate 15 years of service, growth, and impact.

As part of the observance of its 15th Anniversary, the Legislative Information Service - LIS today held a one-day reflection and strategic working session aimed at evaluating the department’s journey and impact over the past fifteen years.

The session provided an opportunity for staff and leadership to reflect on the department’s service delivery achievements, assess its current progress, and outline a forward-looking vision for the next five years as it approaches two decades of institutional service.

Several staff members, including the Director of the department, Mr. B. McCarthy Weh, shared insightful retrospectives on the department’s growth, challenges, milestones, and aspirations for the future.

The 15th Anniversary is being observed under the theme:
“REFORM FOR IMPACT AND LEGACY!”

Pictorial highlights below.

Celebrating 15 Years of Dedicated Service to Liberia — LIS Marks a Milestone of Excellence and Impact.

Today, we proudly celebrate 15 years of dedicated service, transparency, and commitment to Liberia as the Legislative Information Service (LIS) marks its 15th Anniversary.

For the past fifteen years, LIS has played a vital role in keeping citizens informed about the work of the Legislature, promoting public awareness, strengthening democracy, and bridging the gap between the people and their government.

This milestone is a reflection of hard work, professionalism, growth, and the continued dedication of all those who have contributed to the institution’s success over the years.
As we celebrate this special occasion, we honor the journey so far and look forward to many more years of excellence, innovation, and service to the Liberian people.

Happy 15th Anniversary to the Legislative Information Service! 🇱🇷🎉

On April 1, 2025, the Legislative Information Service (LIS) of the Liberian Legislature in collaboration with Naymote Partners for Democratic Development convened a working session to review and discuss the modified Terms of Reference (ToR) for the LIS's three divisions: Management Information Service (MIS),
Quality Enhancement Service (QES) and Committee Support Service (CSS) and the introduction of four (4) interns from Naymote who will be serving the Legislature.
Moving forward, the LIS primary service delivery focuses on the following: aiding legislators in their lawmaking function through the department’s Management Information System (MIS); assisting lawmakers in their oversight role through the Committee Support Services (CSS) division; and, helping to improve the legislature’s representation function through the department’s Quality Enhancement Services (QES) division.

Key Objectives of the Working Session:
• Clarification of Roles: Define the specific functions and responsibilities of each division to ensure alignment with the LIS's mission to provide professional library, archival, and research services to all 103 lawmakers, committees, staff of the both houses and the general public.
• Enhancement of Services: Identify areas for improvement within each division to better support legislative processes and promote transparency.
• Collaboration Strategies: Develop strategies to strengthen collaboration between the LIS divisions and legislative committees, enhancing the overall effectiveness of legislative support services.

LIS and Naymote Collaboration:
The LIS serves as the information repository and research resource for the Liberian Legislature, providing objective, nonpartisan research and analysis to both the Senate and House of Representatives. Established as part of the Legislature’s five-year Modernization Plan (2009-2013), the LIS aims to support informed
decision-making and citizen engagement through the dissemination of accurate and timely information.

Naymote Partners for Democratic Development is a prominent civil society organization dedicated to enhancing democracy and good governance in Liberia. Their collaboration with the LIS has led to various initiatives aimed at improving legislative openness and effectiveness, including training programs for legislative staffers and the donation of laptops to enhance the work of legislative staff.
Naymote, in collaboration with the LIS, has organized seminars and training sessions aimed at developing the capacity of legislative personnel. For instance, a one-day seminar themed “Advancing the Culture of Legislative Openness and Ensuring Citizens’ Interests are Represented” was held to enhance the professional skills of legislative staffers. Today's working session underscores the ongoing commitment of both the LIS and Naymote to strengthen legislative support services, promote transparency, and ensure that
legislative processes are accessible and responsive to the needs of the Liberian people.

Mr. Eddie Jarwolo, Executive Director of NAYMOTE expressed joy that he could be part of a collective effort aimed at improving lawmakers’ services to the people. He vowed to continue to assist as he thanked his donors for their support. Mr. McCarthy Weh, the LIS Director for his part, says he is cautiously optimistic
that by the end of the tenure of the 55th Legislature, the body would have achieved remarkably well; while he at the same time urged lawmakers to prioritize capacity building and professional development enhancement of staffers. He expressed that the anticipated benefit for the modified TOR is that the work of the legislature will be improved and citizens will be more informed on the legislature and its three cardinal functions.

July 30, 2024
NAYMOTE-Liberia Hosts Round-table Discussions on "Lessons Learnt on Openness and Documentations" in Collaboration with the Legislative Information Service (LIS)!

A one-day round table discussion was hosted in the Library space of the Legislature on Lessons Learnt in legislative openness and documentations, with sponsorship from NAYMOTE Partners for Democratic Development. The discussions were held under what the department calls NAYMOTE-LIS Partnership Mid-Year Engagements and Review. Under this phase of the partnership, the LIS and NAYMOTE reviewed their partnership’s activities during the period under review (January – July). During the event, focus was placed on chamber's statistics including legislative instruments acted upon by both houses.

Lead discussants at the event were the Stenographers and Engrossing Clerk of the Senate, and the Deputy Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives who served as Resource Person since the Stenographers and Engrossing Clerk of the House were unavailable. The discussants spoke on how bills become laws, attendance records of lawmakers, statistics from the January to July 2024 plenary sittings of both lower and upper Houses of the Legislature, etc. Benefits of laptops donated to legislative chambers staffers were reviewed and found that the laptops are serving the intended purpose.

The roundtable of 25 participants generally placed emphasis on the importance of letting the citizenry know about the day to day workings of their lawmakers at Capitol Hill, and how the lawmakers are making sure they provide support to their (critical) departments for effective-optimum service delivery.

For their parts: NAYMOTE’S Executive Director, Mr. Eddie Jarwolo thanked the participants for attending, and expressed his willingness to assist critical departments at the legislature. He emphasized on the LIS and its affiliating departments of research, archives and library. Also, continued support to the stenographers and engrossing clerks were highlighted.
LIS Director B. McCarthy Weh, conveyed deep appreciation to NAYMOTE for its unrelenting partnership with the LIS in the last six years, when the bicameral departments faced some of its most difficult times during the 54th Legislature. He praised Mr. Jarwolo for keeping the LIS afloat in service delivery in seven years running now.

Group photos followed!!!

?Innovative Media Liberia