Open Government Partnership

History

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) was formally launched on September 20, 2011 on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting during which Heads of State from 8 founding governments (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States) endorsed the Open Government Declaration and announced their country action plans along with an equal number of civil society leaders. The eight founding members also welcomed the commitment of 38 governments to join OGP. Since its creation, OGP has resulted in over 2,500 commitments made by 75 participating countries, covering a third of the world's population.

OGP held its first annual high-level meeting on April 17–18, 2012 in Brasilia, Brazil. Just six months after its start, OGP had grown from eight action plans and 46 participating countries to 50 action plans and 54 participating countries. The meeting in Brasilia brought together countries and organizations united in their belief in the power of transparency, with participation from anti-censorship campaigners in Yemen to reformers using data on primary schools to improve education in India.

The United Kingdom became OGP co-chair in September 2012 determined to support members in delivering on their transparency commitments. 46 members had already published action plans containing over 300 open government commitments. According to then Minister of the United Kingdom's Cabinet Office responsible for public transparency and open data, Frances Maude, Britain sought to "further secure the foundations of OGP as a globally recognized and respected international initiative…. [and to] strengthen the role of civil society organizations, encouraging greater collaboration with governments to forge more innovative and open ways of working."

In October 2013, Indonesia took on the government co-chairmanship role along with civil society co-chair Rakesh Rajani of Twaweza. That year, OGP's thematic goals centered around Citizen Action and Responsive Government. In an era of hyperconnectivity, openness and transparency, as well as citizen participation and collaboration, are increasingly viewed as essential components of good governance .

In October 2014, the Government of Mexico and Suneeta Kaimal, Chief Operating Officer of the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI), became OGP co-chairs. With the adoption and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by world leaders at a historic United Nations Summit, including Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 for the "promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies," 2015 marked a milestone for the future of development outcomes and open government. In October 2015, the Government of Mexico hosted the third OGP Global Summit in Mexico City emphasizing the theme of "Openness for All: Using the Open Government principles as key mechanisms to implement the post-2015 development agenda."

The Government of South Africa and Alejandro Gonzalez, GESOC, also became co-chairs of OGP in October 2015.

In early 2016, OGP launched a new pilot program designed to involve subnational governments more proactively in the initiative.

In December 2016, the Government of France, in partnership with the World Resources Institute (WRI), hosted the fourth OGP Global Summit in the nation's capital, Paris, gathering 3000 representatives from 70 countries.

Objectives

OGP provides a platform for reformers inside and outside of governments around the world to develop initiatives that promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. OGP aims to secure concrete commitments from national and subnational governments that drive open government reform and innovation in an effort to push countries further in the areas of transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement. It is a voluntary partnership that countries opt to join and through which civil society organizations, in collaboration with government, can advance initiatives that they deem in line with their reform agendas.

Rather than establish a worldwide transparency ranking of countries, OGP provides support and encouragement to countries around the world as they champion ambitious new reforms and deliver on their promises "under the watchful eyes of citizens," The community of reformers is meant to "offer support to those in government that are willing and to create a hook whereby the conversations among government and civil societies can occur."

This relationship between government and civil society is the cornerstone of OGP. Governments are expected to actively collaborate with civil society when drafting and implementing country commitments, as well as when reporting on and monitoring efforts. The OGP process requires government to consult with civil society and citizens, and the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) assesses the quality of this consultation.

OGP can serve as a platform to construct a diverse coalition of civil society actors from a variety of disciplines.

The principles of OGP are best explained by the Open Government Declaration. As outlined in the declaration, participating countries are expected to adhere to the following principles:

OGP participating countries declare their commitment to:

Structure

As a multi-stakeholder initiative, civil society participation is enshrined in OGP's foundational principles and management structures. Governments and civil society play an equally important role in managing the OGP through participation in the Steering Committee, OGP's executive management body, as well as at the national level.

1. Steering Committee – The OGP Steering Committee provides guidance and direction at the international level in order to maintain the highest standards for the initiative and ensure its long-term sustainability. It is composed of equal numbers of representatives of governments and civil society organizations. OGP's leadership regularly rotates by appointing a new government co-chair and a new civil society co-chair every year. Incoming government and civil society members of the Steering Committee are selected by their peers.
2. Subcommittees – Members of the OGP Steering Committee delegate work to the OGP Subcommittees. There are three subcommittees: 1) Governance and Leadership; 2) Criteria and Standards; and 3) Peer Learning and Exchange. The principle of parity is preserved in the Subcommittees as an equal number of government and civil society representatives serves in each one.
3. Open Government Partnership Thematic Working Groups – There are currently six OGP Working Groups that contribute to peer exchange and learning across the partnership. The ultimate goal is to support the creation and effective implementation of more ambitious open government commitments in the OGP national action plans.
4. Fiscal Openness Working Group: led by the Global Initiative on Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) and the Governments of Brazil and Philippines
5. Legislative Openness Working Group: Led by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Government of Chile
6. Access to Information Working Group: Led by the Government of Mexico (Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection) and the Carter Center.
7. Anti-Corruption Working Group: Led by the Open Society Foundations, Transparency International, and the Governments of Brazil, Georgia, and the United Kingdom.
8. Open Data Working Group: Led by the Web Foundation and the Government of Canada
9. Openness in Natural Resources Working Group: Led by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Government of Indonesia.
10. The Support Unit – The OGP Support unit is a small, permanent secretariat that works closely with the Steering Committee to advance the goals of the OGP. It is designed to maintain institutional memory, manage OGP's external communications, ensure the continuity of organizational relationships with OGP's partners, and support the broader membership. It also serves as a neutral, third-party between governments and civil society organizations, ensuring that OGP maintains a productive balance between the two constituencies.
11. Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) – The IRM is the key means by which all stakeholders can track OGP progress in participating countries. The IRM produces biannual independent progress reports for each country participating in OGP. Progress reports assess governments on the development and implementation of their OGP action plans, as well as their progress in upholding open government principles. The reports also provide technical recommendations for improvements. These reports are intended to stimulate dialogue and promote accountability between member governments and citizens.
12. Civil Society Engagement – The CSE Team works to broaden, strengthen and engage a strong civil society network to participate in OGP, particularly at the national level. The team supports national civil society actors to help them make better use of the OGP process – including the design, implementation and monitoring of OGP action plans – for achieving their own advocacy objectives.
13. Subnational Government Pilot Program - Launched in 2016, this pilot program seeks to extend the principles of OGP to the local level. 15 subnational governments were selected to participate in the pilot program and, with the support of the OGP Support Unit and Steering committee, have developed national action plans in collaboration with civil society. They will actively contribute to peer learning and networking activities with other subnational governments and, like OGP's member countries, will be assessed by the IRM.

How it works

Funding

Funding for OGP comes from participating countries, donors and development partners.

Current participating countries

The following countries have met the minimum eligibility criteria and have joined the OGP:

Inactive countries

The following countries have been marked as inactive for acting contrary to the OGP process:

Eligible countries

The following countries have demonstrated that they have met the minimum criteria of eligibility and are eligible to join OGP:

Criticisms