Opening Governments Transforming Societies Africa Regional Meeting May 2013

The Open Government Partnership A multi-stakeholder initiative through which governments make concrete commitments to: Promote transparency Empower citizens Fight corruption Harness new technologies to strengthen governance

A Brief History of OGP January 2011 A small meeting of governments and international experts decides to create the OGP. July 2011 International outreach meeting for all eligible countries. February 2011 Steering Committee formed, eight countries initially join OGP. September 2011 Launch of OGP in New York with Presidents Obama and Rousseff joined by Ministers and representatives from 44 other countries. April Annual Meeting in Brasilia with almost 1,000 people participating representing 57 governments.

Principles of OGP Original idea: Build upon open government momentum to push agenda on transparency, accountability and citizen engagement Eligibility: Basic protection for civil liberties and citizen engagement Governance: Equal power governments and civil society Process: Broad consultation with citizens, civil society, private sector to develop national Action Plan Plan: Country commitment to their citizenry Goal: more open government and society; restore trust citizen - state

What makes OGP Different? OGP is a genuine partnership of government and civil society at all levels Governments, civil society, and the private sector come together to learn from each other, partner, and innovate Countries develop action plans with concrete ‘stretch’ commitments and firm timelines Independent reporting to promote accountability

Participation in OGP 8 Countries39 Countries11 Countries

How Can Countries Join OGP? STEP 1:Meet the minimum eligibility criteria (86 Countries do as of March 2013) STEP 2:Send a letter of intent to the OGP Steering Committee STEP 3:Undertake the broad public consultation to inform the government's OGP commitments, and identify a multi-stakeholder forum for regular public consultation on OGP implementation STEP 4:Develop an OGP country action plan with concrete commitments on open government that address at least one grand challenge STEP 5: Participate in peer consultation on the OGP country action plan STEP 6:Publicly endorse the OGP Declaration of Principles and deposit the final country plan on the OGP website STEP 7:Publish a self-assessment report on progress after 12 months of OGP implementation, and cooperate with the Independent Reporting Mechanism in generating its own report

Eligibility to Join OGP To be eligible to join OGP, governments must exhibit a demonstrated commitment to open government in four key areas, as measured by objective indicators and validated by independent experts. Budget Transparency Measured by the Open Budget Index 2012 (100 country survey) Access to Information Measured by Right2Info’s database of FOI laws and constitutional provisions for access to information Asset Disclosure Measured by the World Bank’s Public Officials Asset Disclosure database Citizen Engagement Measured by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2012

Is Your Country Already Eligible? Countries in blue have already joined the Open Government Partnership.

Questions on the Eligibility Criteria?

Dialogue with Civil Society and Citizens Practices will vary between different countries, but some core guidelines: – Process should be well advertised with a clear timeline. – Wide consultation pool across the country, including civil society and the private sector. – A variety of consultation methods in order to capture as diverse a group as possible, including both in-person and on-line meetings. – Establish a forum for multi-stakeholder engagement. – Comments and a summary of the consultation posted online.

The OGP Action Plans Concrete Commitments to Open Government

Grand challenges addressed Increasing Public Integrity306 Improving Public Services208 More Effectively Managing Public Resources142 Increasing Corporate Accountability18 Creating Safer Communities15 Global Integrity Analysis (July 2012)

Overview of Country Commitments

Philippines: Roadmap to expand participatory budgeting to other phases of the budget cycle Examples of Country Commitments Turkey: Plots a risk map by determining the risk areas open to corruption and taking preventive measures Chile : Legislative reforms on political party financing, lobbying activities and conflict of interest Slovak Republic: Openness barometer measures transparency of public agencies and highlights any deficiencies

Initial OGP Success Stories The US, Ukraine and Colombia agreed to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Brazil, Montenegro and Croatia have all passed Freedom of Information laws. Uruguay, Israel, Italy, Jordan and Colombia introduced prizes for the best private sector or government agency use of open data.

Questions on Action Plan Preparation and Implementation?

OGP’s Monitoring Mechanisms To Promote Accountability Self Assessment Reports: Governments publish self assessment reports, developed with public consultation after the first year of implementation. This report should assess government performance in living up to its OGP commitments, according to the substance and timelines elaborated in its country action plan. Independent Reporting Mechanism Reports: After the self-assessment report, well respected national level researchers write an independent report using an OGP IRM questionnaire and interviews with national stakeholders. Governments can comment on the report before it is released to the public and uploaded on the OGP website. Civil-Society Reports: Civil society publish their own report on action plan implementation and consultation process in parallel to the government self assessment report.

Country Support and Peer Learning Direct Country Support: – Real-time tracking of progress on action plans and implementation – Referrals between OGP governments and other governmental and non-governmental sources of expertise – Coordinating multilateral support – Support to civil society to play its part Peer Exchange – Regional/global workshops – Webinars – Thematic Working Groups (e.g. access to information, fiscal transparency) Learning and Impact – Case studies – Impact Research

OGP’s 2013 Calendar May 2013 Regional OGP meeting in Africa, hosted by Kenya. September 2013 Publication of first round of Independent Reporting Mechanism reports on the eight founding countries. July 2013 Working level Steering Committee meeting focused on further engagement and opportunities for expansion. October 2013 Annual OGP conference in London, featuring open government innovations from around the world April 2013 Steering Committee meeting in London with new countries presenting action plans.

Contact the OGP Support Unit For More Information OGP Support Unit Staff: Executive Director: Linda Frey Deputy Director: Joe Powell Program Associate: Jack Mahoney OGP Independent Civil Society Coordination (hosted by Hivos): Civil Society Coordinator: Paul Maassen CSC for Latin America: Emilene Martinez OGP Independent Reporting Mechanism: IRM Program Manager: Joseph Foti OGP Networking Mechanism (Global Integrity): Director: Abhinav Bahl Manager of Projects: Nicole Anand On the web: and blog.opengovepartnership.orgwww.opengovpartnership.org For civil society: Africa Google group, newsletter, mailing listwww.ogphub.org Key documents: ‘OGP orientation packet’ and ‘Opening Government’ (online), Country Articles