Panama Implementation Report 2017-2019

After implementing three action plans, Panama has improved its participation processes both during the co-creation and during the implementation of its commitments. Civil society participated in the implementation meetings and took a leading role in various commitments. Regarding implementation (and in contrast to the previous cycle, which was more effective), only two of the nine commitments reached a substantial level of progress, one was withdrawn from the plan and another was not initiated. This action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... contributed to the opening of the government particularly regarding access to information.

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) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Panama joined OGP in 2012. Since then, the country has implemented three action plans. This report evaluates the implementation of Panama’s third action plan.

General Overview of the Action Plan

Panama improved the engagement with civil society in the implementation processes, with an active role of the multi-stakeholder forumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple.... The level of implementation of the commitments deteriorated compared to the previous cycle, due to changes within the Government and the lack of viability for the implementation of several proposals. One of the nine commitments originally included in the plan was withdrawn and one was not initiated.

Anticorruption and public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... had the greatest achievements in the implementation of commitments. The only two commitments with a substantial level of progress and that achieved significant changes in the levels of government openness come from these two areas.

Improvements were particularly pronounced in the access to information dimension as a result of the launch of data dissemination platforms. One of these data dissemination commitments was assessed as a starred commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action....

Starred commitments must meet several criteria:

• In the Design Report, the commitment is rated as verifiable, relevant to OGP values, and has a “transformative” potential impact.
• The IRM Implementation Report rated the commitment implementation as substantial or completed.

Based on these criteria, Panama’s action plan has one starred commitment:

2. Strengthen 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 accountability in public infrastructure projects.

Table 2. Noteworthy Commitments

Five Key IRM Recommendations

The IRM key recommendations are prepared in the IRM Design Report. They aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide the implementation of the current action plan. In the Panama Design Report (2017- 2019), the IRM recommended the following: