An Updated Overview of the New OGP Action Plans

In the report, “What’s in the New OGP National Action Plans?”, the OGP Support UnitThe OGP Support Unit is a small, permanent group of staff that work closely with the Steering Committee and the Independent Reporting Mechanism to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership.... highlights the work of OGP participating countries that are making interesting new commitments in their action plans. The report, which was recently updated with four more countries, presents an overview of the noteworthy policy commitments from 35 countries that delivered their new plans by October 1, 2014.

The report comes at an important time for OGP participating countries seeking inspiration to tackle new challenges. In addition to providing an overview of which country is undertaking what innovative initiative, some of the example commitments demonstrate higher levels of ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po.... OGP is aiming for continuous improvement in country commitments that will strengthen the momentum for openness and accountability at the national and international levels.

The publication of this report provides an opportunity to reflect on the good work being done and where more support can help catalyze more action. To that end, another aim of the report is to encourage OGP’s multilateral and civil society partners to play a role in the implementation of these new commitments, and to use the full new National Action Plans. Support from OGP multilateral and civil society partners will be essential in meeting the real challenges in OGP – transforming commitments into concrete change on the ground.

The Support Unit hopes the report triggers discussion and exchange on good practices and lessons learned in developing and implementing commitments relevant to OGP values. Seven major emerging trends based on the intended results of the reform are clustered in the report:

     1.    Public ParticipationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... – Engaging Citizens in Policymaking.

     2.    Government Integrity – Fighting Corruption and Strengthening Democratic Institutions.

     3.    Freedom of Information – Guaranteeing Public Access to Government Information. 

     4.    Fiscal TransparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More – Helping Citizens Follow the Money.

     5.    Public Service DeliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are... – Making Services Work for the People.

     6.    Extractive Resources Transparency – Ensuring Extractive Revenues Are Used for Public Benefit.

     7.    Open DataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... – Digitizing and Opening Up Government Data for Access to Information and Transparency.

This report does not purport to fully cover all the important work countries are doing. Subsequent progress reports from the IRM will present a more rigorous assessment of all commitments.

This is the first time the Support Unit has provided a synthesis of newly submitted National Action Plans. The report was first launched at the OGP High Level Event in New York in September. The updated version highlights additional countries, meaning that all the new action plans published since the October 2013 London Summit have been covered. The report will be revised at the end of 2014 as more countries submit their action plans.

Download the full report here.

The full report in Spanish is available here.