The OGP Gazette is a monthly update of technical information provided by the OGP Support Unit and IRM. It is intended to help OGP stakeholders stay up to date on official decisions and the technical aspects of National Action Plans and reporting.
Calendar
Country calendars: What are you working on right now?
OGP participating countries are organized in two large groups according to the year - even or odd - in which they present their two-year National Action Plan (NAP). This division is important because it determines when countries are due to hold consultations, present NAP and Self-Assessment reports, and when they will receive their IRM reports. The list of the countries in each of the groups, along with all the country calendars, is available here.
This section presents the activities that countries - in each group - are doing according to their calendars.
Even year countries (action plans beginning in an even year):
Have started to implement their 2016-2018 National Action Plans.
Odd year countries (action plans beginning in July of an odd year):
Have finalized implementation of their 2015-2017 National Action Plans.
Are starting to deliver their 2017-2019 Action Plans.
The IRM Data Dashboard is a one-page reference for frequently asked questions about general IRM data such as the number of OGP action plans, total number of commitments, or number and percentage of starred commitments. This one-pager reflects data provided in the IRM-Support Unit Commitments Database and is updated as the database is updated.
16 odd-year action plans that have just completed the first year of implementation and will be receiving an IRM report in early 2017
20 even-year action plans that were submitted by 30 June 2016. These action plans are currently being implemented and will be evaluated by the IRM in late 2017
An additional 15 even-year action plans that were submitted by the 31 October 2016 deadline and will be evaluated by the IRM in late 2017
This data can be found in the “non-IRM assessed commitments” tab of the database. While these action plans have been tagged for OGP Thematic Tags, their inclusion will not change IRM assessed variables (i.e. specificity, OGP value relevance, potential impact, completion, starred commitments).
Support Unit positions There are no new Support Unit positions are open at this time.
IRM positions
International Expert Panel Members (IEP) The IRM is seeking nominations for new members of the IEP. These members will take on the work of reviewing documents during 2018 and will assume a role in guiding the IRM in 2020 onwards. See nomination details here. Please send in all nominations by 12 midnight EST August 31st.
Report Production Specialist The IRM is also hiring temporary Report Production Specialists to collaborate with the IRM in producing reports from the review stage all the way through publication. Learn more about the position and how to apply here.
IRM National Researchers The following national IRM Researcher positions are open (seehere):
Dominican Republic
Finland
Ghana
Mongolia
Norway
OGP Events
The OGP Americas Regional Meeting will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 21-22, 2017. Registration for the event officially opened on August 15 and will stay open until the week of the event - registration link here.
On Tuesday, September 19, 2017, we invite you to “Rebuilding Trust in Government”, an OGP side event to the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. Hosted by the current and incoming OGP Co-Chairs, this event will bring together an international coalition of Heads of State and Government, civil society organizations, and civic tech entrepreneurs to promote transparency in public action, citizen participation, and democratic innovation for rebuilding trust in government. Please RSVP by Friday, September 8, 2017 - link here.
On theme with this month’s Access to Justice newsletter (subscribe here), OGP partner Namati is offering a Legal Empowerment Leadership Course from December 4-8 in Budapest, Hungary. The course will bring together policy makers, donors, and researchers seeking to forge a better understanding of the history of the legal empowerment movement and its overlap with community organizing. Application deadline is August 28 - apply here!
Steering Committee Announcements
The OGP Steering Committee convened for a working-level meeting at the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C. on June 27-28, 2017. You can find an overview of all of the discussions and resolutions by looking at the meeting notes, available here.
The civil society members of the OGP Steering Committee led a webinar to solicit feedback and input from the civil society community on the key decisions and outcomes. If you missed the webinar, you can access the details and recording here.
Open Government Outreach Tools
Stay abreast of OGP action plan consultation opportunities using the Co-Creation Tracker, available here. Regularly updated, it provides the latest information about past and upcoming co-creation events within OGP countries currently developing an action plan.
We have created a Speakers’ Toolkit containing a set of materials to help people speak about the OGP structure and processes to various audiences. The Toolkit can be foundhere.
Publications
We are pleased to introduce the latest OGP publication, What’s in the Subnational Action Plans, providing an overview of the action plans, commitments, and trending topics from OGP’s 15 Subnational Pioneers. We have also produced a short film about the launch of the OGP Subnational Pilot Program and the importance of open government reform at the local level. You can view the film here.
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OGP Events
