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April 2018: Spotlight on Reformers
As we come up on the first-ever Open Gov Week, with events around the world focusing on open government, we’re spotlighting some of the reforms and reformers from around the world in this month’s Newsletter.
 
In This Issue:
A new era for OGP: becoming an independent organization
Announcing OGP’s newest Local participants
Femicide in Brazil: how open data is protecting women
Austin’s Equity Assessment Tool: leveling the playing field
Extractives transparency in the Philippines: navigating the political climate
Reforming education in Slovakia: a government perspective
Transparency in big institutions: an interview with the EU Ombudsman
What can OGP do better? Here’s a hint: design better commitments
Plus news from around the world of opengov, jobs, and more

 

OGP Deputy CEO Joe Powell speaks at the OECD Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum.

A New Era for OGP: Launching an Independent Entity

By Mark Robinson, Global Director, Governance, World Resources Institute
OGP Board Chairman

As of April 1, 2018, OGP is now an independent organization. What does that mean for OGP? What does that mean for our audience? Find out all the details here.

Growing the Family of #OpenGov: Introducing the New OGP Local Participants!

By Brittany Giroux Lane and Rachel Ostrow, OGP

Competition was fierce for the five new OGP Local participants - five out of 32 were ultimately selected to join the program. Find out who they are - and how they got here - in this blog.

Open Gov Week is just around the corner, from May 7-11! Join us for a week of co-creation around the world. More details at opengovweek.org

Open Data About Femicide in Brazil

By Bárbara Paes and Paula Martis, Article19 Brazil

Violence against women is one of the most pervasive forms of violence in the world. In Brazil, they’re looking for ways to prevent femicide - the murder of women - through the use of open data. Read the full story here.

Austin’s Equity Assessment Tool: Leveling the Playing Field

By Austin City Government

Austin has been voted the best place to live in the United States. At the same time, the city struggles with a legacy of racial and socio-economic inequality. How can open government approach and provide solutions to these problems? Read about the Equity Assessment Tool here.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH


 

“At a time when citizens really feel that governments are not working for them, but are working for entrenched interests, reforms like beneficial ownership are really critical to turn the tide and signal that governments are really serious about working for you.”

Transparency International has put together a series of videos on beneficial ownership. Click the video to hear OGP’s own Tonu Basu state the case for anti-corruption reforms like beneficial ownership.

Achieving Compliance Despite the Shifting Political Tides

By Tina Pimintel, Bantay Kita

The Philippines has been working on its Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) commitments for a long time, and has succeeded in spite of shifting political situations. How has it managed this complex issue? Find out here.

Open Government Partnership as a Driver for Open Education

By Lucia Bernátová, Government of Slovakia

The Government of Slovakia wants to use open government reforms to reform education - creating better teachers, curricula, and schools. Read more about what they did - and what they’re planning - here.

FACES OF OPEN GOVERNMENT 


Emily O'Reilly
European Union Ombudsman

As a woman working in journalism and then government, what are some of the challenges you've faced? Do you think transparency and accountability have roles in the fight for gender equality?

The #MeToo campaign has been a watershed moment in terms of public consciousness about the unequal status between men and women in society.  If a problem cannot be seen, then it cannot be dealt with. In recent months I have noticed a heightened awareness of matters such as gender balance at public events and a greater willingness by women – and indeed men too – to challenge the ‘normalizing’ of unbalanced representation in many areas of professional and civic life. While transparency does not necessarily directly lead to more gender equality, it shows the context in which decisions are made.

Read the full interview with Emily here.


When More is More: Realizing OGP's Potential Through More Ambitious Commitments

By Joseph Foti, IRM

OGP commitments don’t have an implementation problem - what they have is a design problem. The head of the IRM explains how government and civil society should work together to form better commitments here.

 


OGP in the News - March 2018

By Jacqueline McGraw, Communications Associate, OGP

From South Korea to Mongolia, from Indonesia to Spain, OGP news went worldwide last month. Read about the travails of the Argentine province of Mendoza and the high-level partnerships of the Republic of Georgia here.


 
Employment Opportunities

Senior Gender Advisor (Results for Development)
R4D, the OGP, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) are looking for a Senior Gender Advisor with strong experience working on gender policy issues and an understanding of the intersections between gender equality and open government. This position will (1) co-lead (along with the OGP co-chairs, IDRC, and the OGP Support Unit) the Feminist Open Government (FOGO) Initiative, a new research and coalition building effort to leverage the existing OGP platform to empower women and girls; and (2) work with senior leaders within the OGP Support Unit to integrate gender into its work more broadly.


Call for IRM National Researchers
The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) is seeking individuals to carry out research at the national level in a variety of countries to assess government progress on implementation of their OGP Action Plans.

BUZZ ON #OPENGOV


OGP CEO Sanjay Pradhan spoke at the OpenON conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Read/listen to his full remarks here.


OGP Deputy CEO Joe Powell authored an op-ed for Georgia Today. Read it here.


Leave feedback on 2018’s Steering Committee Civil Society nominees here.


OGP has two new and two re-elected government members of the Steering Committee. Read the press release here.


What’s ahead for OGP’s Criteria and Standards subcommittee this year? Read the full recap here.


THE WORLD OF #OPENGOV

Civicus has released the 2018 State of Civil Society report.


Indonesia has launched a platform for monitoring the country’s SDG process.


Freedom House has released Nations in Transit 2018: Confronting Illiberalism.


The Open Contracting Partnership has published a story on how open contracting has fixed school meals in Colombia.


 
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