Paraguay Action Plan Review 2022-2024

Paraguay’s fifth Open Government Action Plan seeks to advance an Open State by including commitments from the executive, legislative, and judicial powers[1]. Although it covers several priority issues for civil society, the commitments have mostly modest or uncertain scope. The co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... benefited from the creation 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... formed by the Joint Board and the Executive Committee, with its own regulations. During implementation, the challenge will be to achieve greater participation from civil society and other actors, which will also contribute to greater social demand and use of public services, enhanced through commitments.

Paraguay’s action plan focuses on five thematic areas across 18 commitments. The IRM considers five promising commitments, two with substantial potential for significant results (#16 and #18) and three with modest potential (#4, #11, and #12 grouped into one and #13). Commitments with the greatest potential for results strengthen the work of previous action plans to include vulnerable groups. They focus on improving the provision and transparency of key information on public services and the participation of the target population to ensure that public policy responds to their needs and results in increased benefits^[2].

It is also important to point out that the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic affected both the implementation of the fourth action plan (2018-2020) and the co-creation of the fifth. According to the fourth plan results assessment: “out of the 35 commitments, 10 were substantially implemented and 8 were completed”^[3]. The call for the design of the fifth action plan was delayed until October 2021^[4] and finally began in February 2022.

Following IRM recommendations^[5] and despite the challenges[6] of the call to participate^[7], the multi-stakeholder forum was created. To carry out the process an Executive Committee with members of the public sector and civil society formed a Joint Board. The civil society representatives’ part of the Executive Committee are the Information Center and Resources for Development Foundation (CIRD, per its acronym in Spanish), the Center for Environmental and Social Studies (CEAMSO, per its acronym in Spanish), Civilab, and Together for EducationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation .... The Technical Secretariat for Economic and Social Development Planning (STP, per its acronym in Spanish) and the National Anti-Corruption Secretariat (SENAC, per its acronym in Spanish) are also part of the Executive Committee on behalf of the State, as well as Open ParliamentEnsuring access to legislative information and creating mechanisms for public participation are critical to building an open, trusting relationship with citizens. Technical specifications: Commitments... and the Supreme Court of JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... on behalf of the legislative power. According to OGP’s Point of Contact (POC), CEAMSO, the CIRD, and the UNDP consulting firm, this measure is considered one of the strengths of this process.

In line with the recommendations of the 2018-2022 results report, one of the fifth action plan’s strengths is that commitment’s are aligned with national plans’ guidelines such as the National Plan for Integrity, Transparency and Anti-Corruption 2021-2025[8] and the Paraguay 2030[9] National Development Plan. Each 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... details other national policies they are linked to.

The effective co-creation process took place between July and December 2022. Virtual public consultation activities and workshops were carried out to collect proposals^[10]. Despite the difficulties in generating a critical mass of participation in the process^[11], the virtual nature of the activities may have had positive effects in including actors who had not participated in previous plans due to distance, time, or other reasons related to physical presence[12].

UNDP^[13] supported the co-creation process. The consultant in charge highlighted that the organism financed the development of the fifth plan and collaborated in the discussion spaces[14].

To strengthen the implementation of the fifth action plan and the co-creation of future plans, the Joint Board must review the way of convening^[15] public organizations such as CSOs, universities, and the private sector. The people interviewed recognized this as one of process’ weaknesses resulting in a plan with little specificity in its commitments and multiple actors in the implementation^[16]. For example, only four commitments have identified civil society organizations interested in supporting their implementation. For commitment #4, SENAC identified 51 unions interested in participating, while the Senate identified CIRD and Civilab for commitment #11. Commitments #16 and #18 are being led by CSOs, with support from some areas of Government (generally local) and other actors such as international organizations (UNICEF) and media, among others.

The 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... is organized into five thematic areas:

• 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, integrity and fight against corruption: commitments #1, #2, #3, #4, #15 and #17. The first three commitments deal with the development of standards that aim to deepen 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... policy, promote a reform of the National Anti-Corruption Secretariat (SENAC, per its acronym in Spanish), and the first lobbyingLobbying transparency allows the public to ensure that there is diversity of participation and contribution to public decision-making. Technical specifications: Policies and actions affecting lobbying... regulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming .... Commitment #4 seeks to establish a space for dialogue, promotion, and training on public-private integrity. Commitments #15 and #17 promote instances of 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 focused on accountability.
• InclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... of vulnerable groups: commitments #8, #9, #10, #16 and #18. The aim is to improve access to services for vulnerable groups through production and dissemination information to the target population. In turn, commitment #8 aims to design a policy to guarantee the exercise of the rights of people with some level of dependency or care needs, using the principles of open government.
• Open State: commitments #11, #12, #13 and #14. The Paraguayan Parliament includes in this plan the third Open Parliament Action Plan. The commitments aim to improve the quantity and format of published information, and the promotion of mechanisms that facilitate citizen involvement in parliamentary processes. For its part, the Supreme Court is committed to creating an Observatory of Judicial Cases to promote transparency in the development of cases, mainly corruption crimes.
• Public Services: commitments #5 and #7. Both commitments seek to improve information systems. On the one hand, through an alert system in 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... processes and, on the other, working with administrative records and improving the national statistical system.
• Environment and climateIn the face of intensifying climate change, OGP participating governments are using their action plans to increase transparency of environment-related information, ensure public oversight of climate f... change: commitment #6. The commitment aims to improve the availability of information and monitoring by integrating financial processes with environmental projects.

The IRM has grouped commitments #11 and #12 of the Open State (Senate), given their joint goal of transparent legislative management^[17]. The chosen public policy areas show a continuation of previous action plans.

The IRM considers this action plan to have a modest overall ambition. The limited participation of civil society, its launching in an election year^[18], and the change of authorities have affected the ability to commit to meeting ambitious goals. This is reflected in the vagueness of the wording of the commitments and their milestones (for example, commitment #17) or in the proposal to write isolated standards (commitments #2 and #3). The POC explained that this was due to prioritizing the strengthening of the multi-stakeholder forum and the participatory space rather than the ambition of the commitments[19]. The UNDP consultant and civil society organizations consulted for this report also agree on this point[20].

Finally, due to the difficulty of obtaining online information about the co-creation process, the Executive Committee should design rules and procedures on information management[21] and documentation of what happens in activities, meetings, and exchanges. This is to guarantee public and unrestricted access to relevant information, feedback, and reasoned responseOngoing dialogue between stakeholders during the development of an OGP action plan is critical to the plan’s success. Specifically, communicating back to stakeholders the ideas received and decision... regarding the participation of actors during the co-creation and implementation process.

At the time of writing this report, the Paraguay OGP website showed updated information in the follow-up and monitoring section of the commitments^[22]. Each commitment has available information on the progress, implementing agency, objectives, actors involved, and contact information.

[1] Open State: this is “(…) the formally expressed will of governments, parliaments, courts of justice, public control organizations or other state or parastatal institutions to promote the openness of their data repositories, citizen access to information, social participation in the different phases of the public policy cycle, accountability and, in general, control of public management by citizens (…)” (Fifth Action Plan)

[2] Commitment #9 System for information and dissemination of services offered to Early Childhood, 0 to 8 years, by the Kunu’û National Strategy; commitment #16 Transparency and citizen monitoring of school meals at the local level and commitment #18 Access route for the diagnosis and care of Chagas disease.

[3]https://www.opengovpartnership.org/es/documents/paraguay-transitional-results-report-2018-2020/ 

[4] Through the STP, Paraguay requested OGP to be part of the countries that co-create and develop their action plans in even years and to return to that group after the extension of the fourth action plan. The STP’s request, justified by the situations caused by the effect of COVID-19, was accepted.

[5]https://gobiernoabierto.gov.py/2021/05/31/evaluan-resultados-de-implementacion-de-cuarto-plan-de-accion-de-gobierno-abierto/

[6] Reasons that posed a challenging scenario for the call for the participatory process: two years of almost inactivity due to the COVID 19 pandemic (Interview Teresa Raidan, 23/06/2023), change of authorities and focal point in October 2021, electoral process (end of December 2022 and first quarter of 2023) and change of authorities in August 2023. Interviews with Jorge Galeano, Information Center and Resources for Development Foundation (CIRD, per its acronym in Spanish) and Center for Environmental and Social Studies (CEAMSO, per its acronym in Spanish).

[7] Interviews with the Information Center and Resources for Development Foundation (CIRD, per its acronym in Spanish); Center for Environmental and Social Studies (CEAMSO, per its acronym in Spanish)

[8]https://transparencia.gov.py/index.php/plan-nacional-de-integridad

[9]https://www.stp.gov.py/pnd/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/pnd2030.pdf

[10] Fifth Action Plan (2022:18)

[11] Interviews with the Information Center and Resources for Development Foundation (CIRD, per its acronym in Spanish); Center for Environmental and Social Studies (CEAMSO, per its acronym in Spanish)

[12]“…Connectivity is very important. Through it we can reach more citizens and gather the services they require to generate commitments that compensate for unmet needs that reach the territory and are visible at the National, Departmental and Local level”. Interview with Teresa Raidan, 06/23/2023

[13] “The Technical Secretariat for Economic and Social Development Planning (STP), with the members of the Joint Board and the Executive Committee, with the support of the UNDP, began the co-creation process of the Fifth Action Plan 2022-2024”. Fifth Action Plan (2022:16)

[14] Interview with Raidan, 06/23/2023

[15]This fact was even recognized in the 2018-2020 evaluation, while it was highlighted that it is necessary to “Concentrate and clearly define the channels of communication and deliberation for the participants in the co-creation process.”

[16] According to the POC, civil society stated they would not participate in the process, except for those part of the multi-stakeholder forum. A low participation and involvement is detected from the commitments and the minutes. This same problem was already highlighted in the results report of the fourth action plan 2018-2020.

The CIRD recognized the low participation of civil society, but decided to participate anyway since the priority was to maintain the current space. Francisco Samaniego (CIRD), 6/23/23

[17] In the feedback provided by the Senate before publication, the implementers stated: “We do not consider that there is overlap. On the one hand, we have a legal obligation to make publications (Law No. 5282/14), and on the other hand we have to improve the accessibility of open data of publications made by the Chamber of Senators at the request of citizens, to strengthen and expand the legislative opening process”. General Directorate of Institutional Development and External Cooperation, by email, 8/2/2023

[18] ElectionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... were held on Sunday April 30, 2023 and the new authorities take office in august 2023.

[19] Interview with Jorge Galeano, 06/22/2023

[20] Interviews with Teresa Raidan, 06/23/ 2023 and Francisco Samaniego (CIRD), 05/29/2023 and 06/23/23

[21] Francisco Samaniego (CIRD) 06/23/23

[22]https://gobiernoabierto.gov.py/monitorea/. Last review date 09/11/2023