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The OGP Steering Committee convened at the Fifth OGP Global Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia, on July 16-17, 2018.
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Monday, July 16 - Working Level SC Meeting
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Update on 2018 Implementation
The Support Unit (SU) presented its mid-year update on the 2018 OGP implementation plan – endorsed by the Steering Committee (SC) earlier this year - to achieve the priorities of the OGP Strategic Refresh. The 2018 implementation plan outlines the crucial role of the SC to achieve the collective deliverables set out for the year at the country, global and thematic levels. These include: i) supporting the record 76 action plans through tailored country and local government support, ii) building OGP’s presence on the global stage, iii) promoting the uptake of ambitious reforms on priority thematic areas, iv) enhancing OGP’s research and analysis capacity, v) establishing the OGP Secretariat as an independent organization, and vi) expanding the resources available to OGP.
Some of the highlights of what has been achieved so far, and what lies ahead for the second half of 2018 are:
At the Global Level:
OGP hosted the first ever global OpenGovWeek (OGW) in May 2018.
- Over 700 events were hosted across 56 countries. Ten of the current SC member countries, including the two incoming countries (Argentina and Nigeria), hosted events during OGW.
- Over 400 articles were published, reaching an estimated 163 million people worldwide, and social media engagement in OGP content increased by 99% with over 60 million impressions of #OpenGovWeek.
The new OGP stories portal CitizEngage was launched at the Georgia Global Summit as an additional tool to arm the SC and reformers around the world with compelling stories and evidence to make a strong case for open government.
The first leadership retreat was held in Bellagio in April with the main objective of creating a network of champions beyond the SC and SU.
- Over 20 open government champions participated, including some SC members, and many who were not yet fully engaged in OGP but are championing different open government thematic areas.
- Some of the main ideas that resulted from the retreat were: i) make OGP less technocratic and more political - including engaging new governments on their priorities early in their administrations; ii) increased focus on public services as a way of showing how open government can directly improve lives; and iii) use the global platform of OGP to push on safeguarding and improving civic space, and combating emerging threats to democracy like misinformation and manipulation of social media.
The Georgia Global Summit agenda was shaped to be an action-forcing moment.
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Over 50 ministers and 6 heads of state and government participated in the summit and side events
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The Summit had 2,270 attendees from 115 countries.
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The main summit agenda had over 80 sessions led by over 90 partners and governments - 20 broadly focusing on anti-corruption, 13 on public service delivery, 19 on civic engagement, and 29 on cross-cutting and emerging themes.
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Suggested next steps for the SC at the global level:
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Rollout of OGP stories and capture more stories from OGP countries.
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Expand OGP’s network of champions and explore a regional model for leadership retreats.
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Leverage key events in 2018 such as World Water Week, UNGA, IODC, IACC, U40, South Korea regional OGP event, Paris Peace Forum, and the G20.
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At the Thematic Level:
The Thematic Leadership Subcommittee approved a strategic thematic partnership model pilot with the goal of igniting stronger political leadership, providing effective technical assistance, and enhancing peer learning across more countries and more topics. The SU has worked on several MoUs to test out the model:
- EITI - To raise ambition and support implementation on extractives and beneficial ownership.
- NRGI - To support country action on extractives (both related to EITI and beyond) as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender and civic space.
- OD4D - To support knowledge sharing, peer learning, and to mobilize resources towards effective implementation of open data principles.
- IDEA - To promote learning and reforms on issues including money in politics, gender, and civic engagement.
- World Vision International - To explore how OGP can scale reforms on social accountability mechanisms.
The SU is working to position OGP as an implementation and accountability arm to translate global thematic moments into country action, such as through high-level OGP conversations at events like the International Anti-Corruption Conference, OECD Integrity Forum; by engagement with global forums like the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group, and by proactively linking these conversations to follow up at the country level.
The SU has also been convening key partners with implementation agencies across different countries to promote thematic ambition on priority issues such as on open contracting in Georgia, beneficial ownership in Chile, among others.
A new push has been made to advance gender and inclusion as a key component of open government.
- The Feminist Open Government Initiative (FOGO) is underway through which 15 research grants aimed for the global south to do research linking to country action plans will be provided.
- A gender advisor to lead the work in the topic was hired who will be working with the OGP SU and the Results for Development (R4D).
- The main intermediate goal is to build a cross-country and civil society coalition on gender and OGP ahead of the Canada Global Summit in May 2019.
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Suggested next steps for the SC at thematic level:
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Build partnerships and coalitions, beyond government and civil society siloes, on priority themes.
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Advance the implementation of thematic reforms through upcoming OGP action plans.
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Leverage OGP to turn global promises into local action.
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Undertake new peer learning activities with fellow SC members and across the Partnership.
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At the Country Level:
A total of 10 governments have joined OGP since the Paris summit:
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National: Ecuador; Kyrgyz Republic; Morocco; Portugal; Senegal
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Local: Basque Country, Spain; Iași, Romania; Kaduna State, Nigeria; Nariño, Colombia; South Cotabato, Philippines.
OGP staff visited 37 national and 14 local OGP participants in the first six months to provide on-the-ground support to government and civil society stakeholders. In most cases, these visits included meetings with high level government representatives.
Health check on the OGP co-creation process:
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76 action plans due in 2018 (56 national and 20 local)
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75% have started the action plan process, 22% have not yet started, and 3% have either stalled processes or rolling to the next cohort to deliver Action Plans in 2019.
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The IRM has a record 86 reports being published in 2018, with 71% already published.
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65% of countries developing an AP this year comply with the requirement of having a Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) while 33% do not, and for 2% it is yet unclear.
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Suggested next steps for the SC at country level:
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Lead by example and support the timely delivery of the 76 action plans that adhere to the co-creation and participation standards.
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Support countries experiencing delays in the co-creating process such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Luxembourg.
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Onboard new countries and locals to support a robust OGP process from the beginning.
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Deep Dives and Priority Programs
In addition to the overall implementation plan update, the SC discussed the progress made on three priority programs: OGP Local, Stories and Evidence, and the OGP Trust Fund.
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OGP Local Program:
- An update on the OGP Local program was provided to the SC. Lessons learned from the first year of implementation of the program (2017) and the first 15 local government action plans can be found on pages 16-19 of the SC pre-meeting packet.
- The SU proposed a roadmap and a timeline for development of the next phase of the OGP Local program, including growth options, developing a community of practice around OGP Local, and aligning to rules and procedures to which all OGP participants are held to, among other key components of the program. The SC endorsed the timeline of strategy development of the OGP Local program as outlined on pages 16-19 of the SC pre-meeting packet.
- The SC agreed that as part of developing the roadmap for the future of the program, there is a need to also look afresh at the definition and rules of engagement of local participants including the relation between different levels of government.
- The SC recognized that there needs to be a balance of expectations of an expansion strategy with availability of resources. The SC and SU are encouraged to explore different models (i.e. IRM light, OGPx) as the roadmap for the future of the program is developed.
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Stories and Evidence Update:
- The SU presented an update on the efforts to date to strengthen OGP’s collection of stories and evidence with the goal of inspiring more ambitious commitments. This includes the CitizENGAGE stories campaign launched at the Georgia Summit which aims to inspire through sourcing and presenting videos, photo essays and impact stories that connect with everyday citizens and demonstrate the value of the OGP process across the world; presenting how open government reforms are making an impact on people’s lives through the “Skeptic’s Guide to Open Government”; and influencing reformers and raising OGP’s visibility through new approaches such as the State of Open Government Report.
- The Skeptic’s Guide has five chapters which present the most rigorous evidence we have so far on how open government reforms have improved public services, government efficiency, prevented corruption, spurred business opportunities and built trust in government. The Guide is targeted towards skeptical policymakers, and as a result presents evidence in the form of an elevator pitch, using prominent government officials as messengers.
- The State of Open Government Report, a flagship report for OGP, will include a shared set of benchmarking tools for OGP members, as well as internal guidance on OGP publications and regular analysis of OGP trends.
- The SC expressed overall support for the stories campaign and the research products presented such as the “Skeptic’s Guide”, as these serve as tools to share what OGP and OG is to colleagues in and outside of government.
- The SC recommended including politicians and decision makers as a key target audience in future stories, and requested support on identifying best practices for storytelling.
- The SU has developed a set of value propositions, narratives, and data needed to arm the SC with concrete examples tailored to the audience they need to address.
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OGP Trust Fund Update:
- An update on the OGP Multi-Donor Trust Fund activities to date can be found on pages 20-22 of the SC pre-meeting packet.
- The SC welcomed the launch of the Trust Fund in 2018 and noted the progress made since its approval at the 2015 South Africa Steering Committee Meeting. The SC provided the following recommendations ahead of the launch of window 2 on the advancement of OGP’s priority thematic areas:
- Explore ways to broaden support from other development partners across regions, such as the Asian Development Bank among others.
- Incorporate lessons from the co-creation window into the design of future windows of the trust fund.
- The OGP SU should leverage existing resources and tools such as IRM reports as inputs into the services provided through the Trust Fund.
Consider including additional public service thematic priorities, such as water and sanitation, infrastructure and housing as they are key sectors that can benefit from open government approaches.
- Prioritize communications of trust fund activities and outcomes to ensure the timely dissemination of information to the appropriate target audience. OGP should capitalize on the insights, stories, lessons, and research generated from grantees to showcase the outcomes and impacts of trust fund activities.
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Criteria & Standards and Procedural Resolutions
OGP Local Resolution
The Criteria and Standards (C&S) subcommittee[1] tabled the following resolution which extends all procedural guidelines to OGP Local participants.
This resolution is an effort to ensure that the same standards apply to all OGP Local participants, including calendar and procedural guidelines (i.e. Participation and Co-Creation Standards) as national governments, and that their participation be subject to Procedural Review if they act contrary to OGP Process.
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Decision
SC unanimously resolved to adopt the following resolution.
OGP Local Procedures Resolution July 16, 2018
In 2017, the Steering Committee resolved to maintain involvement of the OGP Local original participants (formerly known as the Subnational Pilot Pioneers) and to further expand the cohort of participating local entities. In order to ensure that the same standards apply to all OGP participants, the Steering Committee hereby resolves that moving forward, OGP Local governments’ participation in OGP will be subject to the same procedural guidelines as National governments, and that their participation will be subject to Procedural Review if they act contrary to OGP Process.* A government is found to have acted contrary to process when:
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The government does not publish an Action Plan within 4 months of the due date
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The government did not meet the International Association for Public Participation “involve” level of public influence during development or “inform” during implementation of the AP as assessed by the IRM.
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The government fails to collect, publish and document a repository on the OGP website/webpage in line with IRM guidance.
- The IRM Report establishes that there was no progress made on implementing any of the commitments in the Action Plan (N.B. this trigger automatically places a government under Procedural Review).
*This resolution will be reviewed as needed as the OGP Local program matures and develops more rules and the Support Unit will thoroughly review all applicable governance and guidance documents to ensure alignment and have approved by Criteria and Standards subcommittee.
-----------------------------END RESOLUTION-------------------------------
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[1] South Africa expressed its reservations regarding the resolution, calling on OGP to address the definition of “local participants” within the broader context of OGP membership, particularly as the expansion of the program is discussed.
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IRM Refresh and Recommendations
In 2017, the IRM, with the guidance of the SC, commissioned an independent review of the IRM’s mandate, management, and impact. This review assesses the IRM’s relevance, effectiveness and efficiency, and includes recommendations on how the IRM can best fulfill its mandate. Nearly all members of the SC provided input into the review, which was published in January 2018.
The IRM presented an overview of the findings, outlining what is working, what needs improvement, and what actions the IRM is taking forward in response to the review’s findings. As part of the 2018 C&S work plan, the C&S reviewed and endorsed the following set of resolutions aimed to support the uptake of the IRM Refresh Findings and Recommendations.
Given that the resolutions require adjustments to the Articles of Governance, the resolutions outlined below were presented to the SC for endorsement. Additional background information can found on pages 24-28 of the SC pre-meeting packet.
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Decision
The following resolutions have been unanimously passed by the SC.
- IEP quorum and term length - Improving flexibility and speed in review process
To deal with the ever-growing volume of reports, beginning in Feb 2020, there will only be 5 IEP. The IEP will approve a larger “Quality Control pool” of experts. This may include emeritus members, outstanding IRM researchers, and former public officials (without conflicts of interest) all participating without promises of promotion to full IEP. This allows us to expand at peak times and contract, rather than having large numbers of IEP “on retainer” year round. This should accelerate the process of review while potentially cutting some IEP costs.
Resolution 1: Change Articles of Governance (Addendum G, II, p. 1, Bullet ii) from:
Size: The IEP is made up of a maximum of 5 technical advisors— 5 members with a steering role and 5 with a supporting, quality control role to rotate over the cycle of their terms.
Resolution 2: Change Articles of Governance (Addendum G, II, p. 1, Bullet viii):
Terms: The initial term for members of the IEP will be [a maximum of four years.] two years, with the possibility of a one-year extension. IEP members serve a 2-year term and serve 1 year as “emeritus reviewers.” During the emeritus period, they review reports and pass on knowledge to new IEP members. At any one point in time, there will be a maximum of ten members.
- Translation and publication costs
As written, the current Articles of Governance restrict the IRM timing and require translation of the full report. In practice, the IRM does not have the resources to translate full reports and needs more flexibility in timing (in order publish earlier) as noted above. Removing these requirements would harmonize the AoG with already-existing practice.
Resolution 3: Change Articles of Governance (Addendum G, III, “Publication”, Bullet i) to reflect the following text:
The independent reports will be made publicly available in the national administrative language(s) and, where possible and applicable, in English. [Executive summaries will be made available in English and the administrative language.]
The following guidance is too over-prescriptive and does not allow for adaptation of the reports over time to meet the need of OGP participants.
Resolution 4: Delete Articles of Governance (Addendum G, III, “Publication”, Bullet iv):
Mid-term progress reports will be comprised of an executive summary and the full independent report, with any annexes the IEP deems appropriate. End-of-term reports will not have an executive summary.
------------------------------------END RESOLUTIONS---------------------------------
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Introduction of the new IRM Director
Denisse Miranda was presented as the new IRM Director. Joseph Foti, who has served in this position since 2012 will now head a new department that will focus on developing the State of Open Government Report. The SC recorded its gratitude to Joseph Foti for his leadership over the past 6 years.
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Rapid Response Mechanism
In 2017, the SC approved a resolution on developing a rapid response mechanism that outlines how the SC responds to concerns raised in OGP countries that fall outside of current OGP tools, such as the Response Policy, IRM reports, or the Procedural Review. The RRM provides the SC with a tool to quickly respond to urgent situations.
A pilot RRM was presented, with the SC having the chance to tweak and refine as necessary based on lessons learned from its initial implementation. The SC was in favor of moving forward with the proposed RRM, and suggested a series of minor edits to strengthen and clarify the text of the proposal. In particular, the SC called for greater clarity to reduce ambiguity as much as possible.
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Decision
The C&S will work on a revised draft and send it back to the SC for approval on no-objection basis by mid-September 2018. A final version will be published on the OGP website upon approval by the SC.
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Mexico Response Policy Case
The C&S chairs informed the SC that a letter of concern dated 15 July 2018 was filed with the SU under the OGP Response Policy with respect to the government of Mexico. As per the procedures of the Response Policy, the SU will review the eligibility of the concern within 30 working days (by 27 August 2018). The letter of concern and status of the Response Policy case can be found here.
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OGP Board Update & Country Contributions
- An update on the 2018 activities was provided by the chair of the OGP Secretariat board, Mark Robinson, which can be found on page 39 of the SC pre-meeting packet.
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The Chair communicated that the Board is actively seeking two to three additional Board members to serve three-year terms, with special interest for candidates from Latin America, Africa and Asia. Membership of the Board is sought to be balanced between members of government and civil society. For further information regarding Board membership or potential members, please contact info@opengovpartnership.org
- The SU also presented an update on fundraising efforts, including country contributions, which which can be found on page 40 of the SC pre-meeting packet. The two major 2018 goals for country contributions are to raise $3 million in operating revenue for the SU, and establish the contribution as a norm of participation by increasing the number of contributing countries to 50%. SC members were asked to support this goal by raising country contributions in their bilateral meetings at the Summit.
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Tuesday, July 17 - Ministerial Level SC Meeting
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Harnessing the Political Leadership for OGP
The Ministerial SC meeting focused on the role of the SC in advancing OGP’s strategic priorities outlined in the 2018 implementation plan and Strategic Refresh. The strategic priorities were translated into deliverables at three levels - global, thematic, country - with respective roles of the SC, SU, and strategic partners.
Earlier this year, GL launched a strategy to engage the whole SC in helping achieve these deliverables by capturing concrete actions that each SC member can undertake at the country, global and thematic levels.
Under this initiative, the SU worked with all SC members in the lead up to the Tbilisi SC meeting to identify what those actions could be, and captured them in the grid of actions found on page 42 of the SC pre-meeting packet.
The grid of actions shows how the SC is advancing key priorities in support of the collective deliverable for OGP, but it also reveals gaps. The SC is needed to play a crucial role to bridge such gaps by tole modeling and encouraging a concerted push and commitment development in areas such as safeguarding civic space, gender and inclusion, public service delivery, and anti-corruption.
The SC Strategy, as a tool for mutual accountability and support among the SC, will be discussed in the Q4 SC meeting of 2018 to provide an opportunity to report and reflect on what the SC has done in the areas committed to in the grid.
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OGP Steering Committee Tbilisi Resolution
On the occasion of the Georgia Global Summit, the lead GL co-chairs -Government of Georgia and Mukelani Dimba- tabled a resolution on the whole-of-state open government approach to mark the 5th Global Summit. The resolution aims to renew the commitment of the SC to key principles of open government such as deepening collaboration between civil society and governments, using innovative approaches, promoting open government across all branches and subnational levels of government, include women and girls in open government reform processes, and leveraging the OGP action plan process to safeguard civic space and improve the operating legal environment for civil society organizations, among other key principles.
The SC welcomed the resolution and highlighted the need to focus on turning the resolution into action. The following resolution was unanimously approved by the SC:
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OGP Steering Committee Tbilisi Resolution
Approved by the Steering Committee on 17 July 2018
We, members of the OGP Steering Committee, renew our commitment to the principles and values of the Open Government Partnership, as outlined in the Open Government Declaration and the Paris Declaration,
We will, together with all Open Government Partnership members, continue to increase the quantity of truly transformative open government reforms, and to deepen the collaboration between government and civil society,
We will move beyond promoting open governance in the executive branch of government, and increase efforts to foster a culture of open governance in legislatures, the judiciary and independent government institutions, as well as at local levels of government,
We will promote open governance reforms of legislatures, by enhancing mechanisms for better citizen engagement in the oversight of the government and in the policy development process, ensuring inclusive and participatory legislative and decision-making processes and supporting legislatures in becoming more transparent, responsive, and accountable,
We will promote open governance reforms of the judiciary by working with judicial authorities to introduce measures to enhance accountability, integrity and transparency of the judiciary,
We will foster open governance at the subnational level, by working with local governments to promote public participation in service delivery and bring government closer to the people,
We will continue to focus on the tangible impact of our efforts on the lives of communities and citizens, to broaden collective ownership of OGP reforms, and to go beyond a consultative model of citizen engagement by promoting inclusive and active partnership with citizens through co-creation in policymaking and service delivery,
We will establish new partnerships and bring in new actors and use innovative open government approaches -including a renewed focus on fully including women and girls in open government reform processes- to advance the most critical governance and societal priorities such as anti-corruption efforts, open, inclusive and effective service delivery, reducing income inequality and enhancing trust in institutions, and inclusive policy making,
We will focus on strengthening partnership with the private sector to strengthen our collective impact and the sustainability of open governance reforms,
We will champion open, inclusive, and democratic governance, believing that OGP must take a stand when there are threats to democracy and civic space, and leveraging our leadership role at various global fora so OGP becomes a positive force for openness and deeper democracy,
We will ensure the OGP action plan process and broader domestic reform efforts in each of our countries strengthens government-citizen relations to open civic space, including working with civil society organizations to improve the legal enabling environment, to uphold and protect policies for journalists and human rights defenders, and to design frameworks and policies that protect digital rights, media freedoms, and the right of access to information,
We pledge to advance the values and principles of open government widely, including in other global initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals, anti-corruption efforts, and the fight against climate change, so that OGP and the principles of open government help strategically advance implementation, in coordination with established monitoring and implementation mechanisms, including those implemented by the United Nations,
We commit to rising to this challenge as well as to continuing to promote open government reforms as a means to foster transparency, accountability, and equality through technology, innovation and co-creation in all branches of government in ways that inspire the wider open government community,
We believe these commitments can take OGP to a new level, acknowledging that we all joined Open Government Partnership to improve governance on behalf of the communities and peoples that we serve, and to advance unequivocal respect for dignity and human rights.
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Global Level Actions: Responding to Threats to Democracy & Civic Space
The primary area of opportunity identified for SC action at the global level is addressing democratic backsliding and shrinking civic space, of which OGP countries are not immune to. The SU and IRM authored a paper “The Right Tools for the Right Job: How OGP can help win the fight for civic space” which outlines the state of civic space in OGP countries, including the most common problems encountered, the tools available through OGP, and recommendations to improve civic space within OGP provided a framework for the discussion.
SC members shared how they are leveraging the OGP processes to encourage better protection of civic space in their countries, such as enabling spaces for citizens to participate and express dissent in South Korea, extensive consultation processes and engagement of the Prime Minister in public town halls in Canada, and using global Open Gov Week as a mechanism to institutionalize government-civil society dialogue in Italy and Nigeria.
The SC discussed how the OGP as a community could better respond to these global trends, and what the SC could do as a leadership body of the partnership to lead by example at the national and global levels. Some concrete ideas to move forward arising from the discussion include:
- Continue the high-level conversation - OGP is a unique platform where high level conversations between governments and civil society is possible, and the SC will play a key role in sustaining this conversation in its upcoming meetings.
- Collaborate to develop global norms - use OGP platform to develop new norms on civic space and emerging issues such as freedom of expression on digital platforms.
- Take stock of what the regulatory environment for civil society looks like within OGP countries and benchmark goals to improve the legal enabling environment for CSOs in OGP, especially through OGP commitments.
The SC called on each other to lead by example and encouraging the whole partnership to leverage the OGP process to develop more commitments that address the primary concerns.
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Thematic Leadership Actions: State of OGP Priority Themes
Earlier in 2018, the SC endorsed the Thematic Leadership Subcommittee (TLS) workplan, which uses the Paris Declaration and co-chair priorities as an organizing framework, and has the objective of raising the bar on thematic reforms and promote stronger political and SC ownership of advancing policy in key thematic areas through OGP.
This session provided the opportunity for the SC to discuss how to collectively advance this year’s priority themes, share the progress made and challenges faced to date. The SU provided an overview of the current state of two SC-endorsed priority areas in OGP for this year: Anti-Corruption (Beneficial Ownership and Open Contracting) and Public Service Delivery, which can be found on pages 52 and 56 of the SC pre-meeting packet.
The main objectives of the session were two-fold: i) at the country level, identify opportunities for SC leadership, primarily by leveraging OGP action plan processes, and ii) at the global level, strengthen coalitions coalescing around emerging norms to advance priority themes and identify opportunities on the global stage to strengthen OGP’s positioning on these issues. Some of the key takeaways from this discussion include:
Beneficial Ownership and Open Contracting
- Beneficial ownership and open contracting have emerged as global norms that a growing number of countries across OGP have endorsed and committed to as part of global anti-corruption forums. These include country announcements made at the London Anti-Corruption Summit, endorsed by some countries in the G20 as part of the high-level principles on promoting integrity in public procurement and high-level principles on beneficial ownership, and as part of other initiatives such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. A snapshot of the the state of play this and other priority themes, including key facts and figures, can be accessed here.
- There is an opportunity to harmonize OGP action plans to broader national anti-corruption plans, and leverage the OGP process to achieve commitments made on global forums.
- Some concrete ideas presented by the chair of the TLS subcommittee on how the SC can showcase leadership on this priority include:
- Establish public beneficial ownership registers as the norm across OGP
- Strive to meet global data standards
- Commit to award public contracts only if the beneficial owners are known
Improving Public Service Delivery
- Improving the quality, design, and delivery of public services is crucial for both local and national governments, from developing and developed countries. Even though the numbers show that there are a growing number of public service delivery, there is significant room for improvement in terms of ambition and implementation. Efforts in PSD need to be shifted from data availability and e-governance towards higher citizen participation in the design, delivery and accountability of public services.
- Based on SU mapping and SC-endorsed strategic efforts such as the TLS workplan and SC grid, the SU has identified Water, Education, Health and Infrastructure as promising subthemes that have potential for gaining traction within the PSD area.
- As highlighted by OGP’s Global Ambassador Helen Clark in her intervention, the core OGP agenda and its goals of fostering more open, transparent and accountable institutions and promoting higher civil society participation in government are intertwined with the global goal of achieving the SDGs, beyond Goal 16. Corrupt and non-responsive governance compromises the ability to achieve other SDGs.
- To support PSD area gain more traction, the SU has developed a number of key resources, including stories, value propositions and draft commitments. In addition, partnerships have been put in place that can help deliver on this agenda nationally and globally, for example most recently with World Vision International. Additionally, the OGP Trust Fund will create opportunities for peer exchange and implementation of reforms.
- Moving forward, the following suggested next steps were proposed:
- At the country level, leverage open government approaches to address significant challenges in public service delivery. For example, open governments can invite parents to report on the safety of schools; patients to share feedback on the quality of health services; people to monitor the quality of the tap water they drink; or residents to help design and prioritize infrastructure. Commitments on these areas should be tailored to each country’s specific needs, addressing greatest inefficiencies and opportunities, and should proactively involve the most relevant government and non-government stakeholders in the action planning process.
- Explore opportunities for the SC to play regional leadership roles and develop new coalitions to advance public service priorities.
- The 2019 High-Level Political Forum on SDGs will be a key moment for countries to report on progress. For SC countries to share OGP commitments on inclusive public services will send a strong signal and showcase concrete progress, backed up by independent monitoring and civil society buy-in.
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High-Level Political Engagement
As part of the periodic update requested by the SC, the SU presented an overview of where high level political engagement on behalf of the SC would be helpful, both with government and civil society to support OGP processes. The SU requested the support of the SC in:
- Onboarding new governments at the local and national level, including Ecuador, Kyrgyz Republic, Morocco, Portugal, Senegal, Basque Country (Spain), Iași (Romania), Kaduna State (Nigeria), Nariño (Colombia), and South Cotabato (Philippines).
- Support countries with recent or upcoming political transitions to help ensure that open government agendas are prioritized by leveraging the window of opportunity to engage with upcoming administrations.
- Engage eligible non-members who could join OGP in the near future (Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Guyana, Iceland, Japan, Mozambique, Nepal, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Timor-Leste).
- Support countries undergoing challenging situations such as Trinidad and Tobago, Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
- Lead by example by submitting 2018 action plans on time and ensure co-creation processes are in line with new OGP standards.
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Future Leadership of the Steering Committee
Incoming Co-Chairs Agenda
The government of Canada and Nathaniel Heller from Results for Development will officially assume the SC lead co-chair role on 1 October 2018. They presented an overview of co-chair priorities which include inclusion, participation, impact, and strengthening the Partnership. Their proposed strategy can be found on the OGP Website [link forthcoming].
Incoming Co-Chairs Elections
The government of Argentina and Robin Hodess from the B-Team submitted their candidacy to serve as the next incoming co-chairs, following the terms of Canada and Nathaniel Heller. An overview of their candidacies can be found on pages 59 and 63 of the SC pre-meeting packet.
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Decision
The SC endorsed the candidacies of Argentina and Robin Hodess who will assume the incoming co-chair role on 1 October 2018, and the lead chair role on 1 October 2019.
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