2021 Government Steering Committee Elections

Updated November 17, 2021

Overview

Five government seats were up for election in the Steering Committee (SC) on October 1, 2021 as the terms of Argentina, France, Nigeria, Romania and the Republic of Korea* came to an end. Out of these five countries, Argentina, Nigeria and the Republic of Korea were eligible to run for a second term. France and Romania were not eligible to run for reelection as they had already served the maximum allowed two consecutive terms, as outlined in the OGP Articles of Governance.

*On 1 October 2020, the Steering Committee resolved to extend the Co-Chair terms of the government of the Republic of Korea and Maria Baron to no later than December 31, 2021. The full resolution can be read here.

Results of the election

Six candidates, the governments of Ecuador, Estonia, Korea, Morocco, Nigeria and the United Kingdom, stood for election. Voting concluded on August 11, with 70% of eligible OGP governments participating in the election. The voting process was administered by an external company, Scytl, and the Support Unit received only the final tally results so as to safeguard the secrecy of the ballots and the integrity of the election. As in previous years, the election was done through a ranked voting system in which voters ranked candidates by preference. The top-ranked candidate received 6 points, while second place received 5 points, third place 4 points, fourth place 3 points, fifth place 2 points and sixth place 1 point. The final results are outlined in the table below.

With these considerations, we are pleased to announce that the governments of Estonia, Korea, Morocco, Nigeria and the UK have been elected by their peers to three-year terms on the OGP Steering Committee beginning on October 1, 2021.

Steering Committee Co-Chair Results

SC leadership consists of a revolving four-member co-chairmanship team (two from government and two from civil society) elected by members of the SC. The four co-chairs make up the Governance and Leadership Subcommittee (GL). SC co-chairs serve for a two-year term, with the first year as ‘incoming’ and the second as ‘lead’ chairs.

The process for selection of the new incoming SC co-chairs is held following the conclusion of the general SC elections. All SC members, including newly elected, were eligible to run to serve as co-chairs, beginning their ‘incoming’ term on January 1, 2022, and assuming the role of Lead Co-Chair on October 1, 2022.

All interested candidates were asked to submit a letter of candidacy outlining their proposed agendas by responding to the following guiding questions:

Government co-chair candidacy guiding questions:

1. What priorities will your government lead on during its OGP chairmanship to help advance OGP’s strategic objectives?
2. How will your government demonstrate leadership of OGP at the international level during your chairmanship, and what actions can it take to foster a more cohesive leadership body within the Steering Committee?
3. How do you plan to further advance your domestic open government agenda and lead by example during your chairmanship role?
4. Which Ministry will lead your OGP chairmanship (if different from current OGP Ministry)? How do you envision the role and involvement of other government bodies, including your head of state/government, foreign ministry and diplomatic networks, and other ministries to advance your OGP priorities and promote OGP globally.

Two candidates, Estonia and Nigeria, applied to serve as co-chair of the SC beginning January 1, 2022. As outlined in this year’s election process, an anonymous and secure vote was held to determine the next co-chair. Voting concluded on October 18 with 95% of eligible Steering Committee members casting a ballot.

We are pleased to announce that the government of Estonia has been elected by majority vote as the incoming co-chair of the Steering Committee beginning January 1, 2022.

Overview of the OGP Steering Committee

The SC is OGP’s executive, decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests. It also establishes OGP’s core ideas, policies, and rules and oversees the functioning of the partnership.

The SC is composed of 22 members (11 from national governments and 11 from civil society), with parity maintained between the two constituencies. The SC has three standing subcommittees to support its work, the Governance and Leadership Subcommittee (GL), the Criteria and Standards Subcommittee (C&S) and the Thematic Leadership Subcommittee (TLS). Each subcommittee comprises equal numbers of government and civil society representatives drawn from the SC.

Some of the key responsibilities of the SC include:

• Set OGP’s agenda and direction with principled commitment to the founding nature and goals of the initiative;
• Lead by example through upholding OGP values, adhering to OGP processes to co- create and implement ambitious open government reforms, and fulfilling financial support of OGP.
• Advance OGP priorities through their participation in the Global OGP Summit, OGP regional and thematic events, and other international opportunities to promote open government;
• Actively participate in Steering Committee and Subcommittee meetings (in-person and virtually), with Ministerial representation when necessary (at least once per year).

SC members serve for a term of three years and are eligible to serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. SC members seeking a second term must be reelected to stay on the SC. All SC terms begin on October 1 of the year in which they are elected. To learn more about the SC, please see here.

Steering Committee composition

The composition of the Steering Committee through September 30, 2021 is as follows:

Regional balance

Per the Articles of Governance, the SC should be composed of a minimum of one and a maximum of four governments from each of the four regions (Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe). For this election cycle, all regions meet the minimum balance required. However, the maximum possible allocation per region of the five seats opening up this year is as follows: up to three from Africa; up to three from Americas; up to two from Asia-Pacific; and up to two from Europe.

Timeline for the 2021 Government Elections