OGP in the News
Week of September 11, 2017
A weekly round-up of Open Government Partnership (OGP) media coverage around the world.
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This week, OGP news spotlighted the Partnership’s participation at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly, with a few other updates out of Liberia, Brazil, and Nepal.
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OGP at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly
"Trust - the Fight to Win it Back" -
http://www.opengovpartnership.org/trust, OGP
On Tuesday, September 19, 2017, OGP will be organizing an event at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (#UNGA72) titled “Rebuilding Trust in Government.” 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. Follow this exciting event via livestream from wherever you are in the world. OGP will also be launching “Trust - the Fight to Win it Back,” an exciting publication on the role of open government in rebuilding trust in public institutions, with essays authored by some of the world’s leading thinkers and doers. Help spread the word using the hashtag #RenewTrust.
"How can open government help renew democracy and rebuild people’s trust?" - Daily Maverick, South Africa
More on the topic of OGP at the United Nations General Assembly came from incoming OGP Steering Committee co-chair Mukelani Dimba, who authored a powerful piece for the South African newspaper Daily Maverick. Reflecting on his experiences as a “Zulu-speaking South African born in the apartheid era,” Dimba described the government, or “uHulumeni,” of his youth as a “mysterious, feared and savage being, all-seeing, omnipotent and which determined the course of our lives unseen and unspoken of.” At 17 years old, however, Dimba saw a new, democratic government—one that would “enjoy the trust of the people”—unfold under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. This in turn informed Dimba’s long career advocating for transparency and accountability as a reformer working to implement freedom of information and whistleblower protection laws. Outlining how he plans to uphold his vision of citizen-centric governance during his tenure as OGP’s new civil society co-chair, Dimba said he hopes to align the OGP agenda more closely with the Sustainable Development Goals and encourage more OGP commitments around socio-economic justice, development, and protection of civil liberties.
Georgia to Assume the OGP Mantle - Agenda.ge, Georgia
An article in Agenda.ge highlighted OGP’s other incoming Steering Committee co-chair, the government of Georgia, which will be represented by the country’s Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili. Like Mukelani Dimba, Prime Minister Kvirikashvili will participate in OGP’s #UNGA72 event on September 19, 2017.
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Africa
OGP as a Tool to Tap into Liberia's Wealth - Premium Times, Liberia
“Africa is not poor but has only been looted.” In an opinion piece for Premium Times and Naij.com, communications adviser to the Nigerian OGP Secretariat Uche Igwe reflects on this quote in the lead-up to Liberia’s fast-approaching 2017 Presidential Election. Noting that many analysts have attributed Liberia’s “under-development” (high poverty rate, low adult literacy, limited health infrastructure) to years of conflict and rampant corruption, the author concludes that transparency initiatives like OGP and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) are of great “potential benefit” to the resource-rich country. Looking forward to the upcoming election, Igwe speculates “whether the incoming government, like the outgoing one, will leverage on the Open Government Partnership to continue to implement policy changes in favour of good governance and accountability and how this could contribute to the country’s recovery from fragility.”
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Americas
OGP Meeting in São Paulo - Official Gazette for the State of São Paulo, Brazil
The Official Gazette for the State of São Paulo (one of OGP’s subnational pioneers) contained updates on a recent meeting convened by the city’s OGP team in partnership with the Municipal Secretariat of International Relations. According to one of the coordinators, though the meeting was designed to be an open dialogue between members of the Participatory Council, cross-sectoral councils, civil society and government representatives, the meeting didn’t offer much in the way of dialogue on São Paulo’s action plan or budget. The coordinator also expressed frustration that all speeches were limited to three minutes with little follow-up on previous recommendations made by the Participatory Council.
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Outside OGP
“This is Nepal’s open government moment” - My República, Nepal
Coming back to the topic of trust, OGP Steering Committee member Nathaniel Heller penned an opinion piece for My República in which he spoke of the challenge of rebuilding trust in Nepal’s public institutions. Applauding the non-OGP country’s current decentralization efforts, Heller said, “This is Nepal’s open government moment.” He went on to recommend that Nepal carry out spending oversight measures at the local level, as well as join OGP at the national level, in order to rewrite the country’s long history of corruption and become an example of how “principles of transparency and citizen engagement can be the default mode for governing in the 21st century, even in resource constrained contexts.”
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Last but not least, add your voice to all of OGP excitement happening this week at #UNGA72 by using the #RenewTrust on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Of course, we can’t catch everything in our news round-ups, so if you see we’ve missed something or think a particular story ought to be featured, please send it to jacqueline.mcgraw@opengovpartnership.org.
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