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Community of Practice on Water and Open Government

About

Tackling today’s water challenges, from expanding service delivery to cleaning up the world’s waterways, will require more than improving infrastructure and stepping up investments. Governments and civil society must also address daunting political challenges such as fragmented resource management, corruption, and inadequate, unequal access to clean water that communities rely on for their lives and livelihoods. Adopting open government reforms can help governments strengthen their institutional capacity, facilitate coordination between stakeholders, and resolve information asymmetries to promote fairer, more reliable and more efficient water and sanitation service delivery.

In 2017, Fundación Avina, the Open Government Partnership, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), Water Integrity Network (WIN), and the World Resources Institute (WRI) formed a Community of Practice (CoP) on Water and Open Government.

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Water and Sanitation in OGP

OGP members tackle disparity and safety issues in water and sanitation through commitments ranging from improving access to fighting corruption.

Open Government and Water and Sanitation Declaration

The Open Government and Water and Sanitation Declaration is an international call to bring together water and open government reformers and mobilize ambitious action that strengthens implementation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) service delivery. It outlines targeted recommendations that leverage transparency, participation and accountability that can be utilized through OGP and other WASH forums to increase collaboration and realize the human right to water and sanitation.

A broad coalition of civil society and international organizations worked to co-create the Declaration. The Declaration remains open for endorsement from open government and water advocates through September 2021. Recommendations in the Declaration were developed in consultation with the OGP Support Unit, which actively encourages the use of OGP action plans as a mechanism to advance OGP member commitments in the water and sanitation sector.

If you are interested in endorsing the Declaration and sending a clear message on the importance of addressing WASH through an open government lens, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, please fill out the form in English, Spanish or French.

Please contact Elizabeth.Moses@wri.org or WaterOpenGovernment@siwi.org with any questions about the Declaration.

  • Watch the recording of the launch event for the Declaration during Open Gov Week here.
  • Learn more about the process for developing the Declaration in a recent blog, available in English or Spanish.

Newsletter

Sign up for the Community of Practice’s newsletter and keep up to date with our vital work here.

Resources

  • Water and Open Government: A Step-by-Step City Guide (English)
  • Introduction to A Community of Practice on Water and Open Government (English)

Blogs

  • Water and Sanitation Through a Gender Lens (English)
  • What Does it Mean to Mainstream Gender in Open Government Processes, and Why Are Gender-Blind Indicators Not Enough? (English)
  • More Transparency in Brazil’s Water Sector National Information System (English)
  • Innovations in Water Management in the City of São Paulo: the Leading Role of Civil Society (English, Portuguese)
  • Making Information on the Use of Water Resources in Chile Open and Transparent (English, Spanish)
  • Water-Related Commitments in Mexico’s Open Government Plan (English, Spanish)
  • Fortaleciendo el sistema nacional de información de recursos hídricos a través del 4º Plan de Acción de OGP en Brasil (Spanish)

Recent Content: Water and Sanitation in OGP

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OGP Fact Sheets

Explore global progress and member-level examples of open government work in each of the selected policy areas and various regions.

Water CitizENGAGE in Paraguay

Making Waves: Improving Water Governance through Open Government Approaches

Clean and readily available water for all is a human right. Learn how open government approaches can improve accessibility, transparency and government accountability over this precious natural resource.

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Open Government Partnership