Good Governance by All Means

Citizens today have higher expectations and demand effective solutions to every day issues and challenges. From climate change to expedient postal services, governments are required to act with 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 and diligence. Public accountabilityAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, public accountability occurs when ”rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms ... More demands us, public servants, to act with almost no margin of error and using the most open and transparent means available to achieve our goals. The name of the game is simple: government efforts should focus on building stronger, better and healthier relationships with civil society. Nobody should be left behind when tailoring public policy. For the Mexican Government, it is crystal clear, that such endeavor is no longer the State’s monopoly and thus, the pressing need for governments to use smarter and more efficient tool boxes, such as the one that the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP), provides. The buzzword is good governance by all means.

The High Level Segment of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly was a milestone for the open government community. It allowed the 13 countries taking part of the OGP Steering CommitteeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru... and several civil society organizations to endorse the Joint Declaration: Open Government for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This declaration highlights the paramount importance of promoting the principles of open government (transparency, accountability, citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More and innovation) as key enablers of the Sustainable Development GoalsOGP countries are experimenting with open government innovations to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16+ which includes peaceful, just and inclusive societies.... The Declaration particularly embraces Agenda 2030’s Goal 16 as a common target for all 66 OGP member countries. Our common goal is to continue building stronger institutions while weaving peaceful and inclusive societies. Our meeting in New York also allowed us to work with key players to develop the 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... Charter that recognizes the value of having timely, comprehensive, accessible, and comparable data for the promotion of greater citizen engagement triggering development and innovation.

In Mexico, we are proud to host the Open Government Partnership Global Summit on October 28 and 29. The Summit will provide the international community a unique opportunity to exchange best practices and for governments, to pledge open government commitments that will directly impact the daily lives of citizens.

The Summit will bring together heads of state and government, ministers, and other high level officials, as well as parliamentarians, local governments, international organizations, the private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat..., civil society representatives and other stakeholders. All of them are working together to jointly shape better policies guaranteeing civic engagement and greater 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....

We are fully aware of the challenging future ahead of us. 24/7 news cycles received in real time by all sorts of citizens require governments to genuinely think out of the box. We need to continue making a revolutionary change on our modus operandi. Open, transparent, more horizontal and accountable governments listening to their citizens is the way to go. Mexico is already attaining goals according to this new paradigm and way forward.

This post is part of a series produced by the Huffington Post and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) surrounding OGP’s 2015 Global Summit, which is taking place in Mexico City from October 27-29.