2022 Government Steering Committee Elections

Updated September 28, 2022

Three government seats were up for election in the Steering Committee (SC) on October 1, 2022 as the terms of Georgia, Germany, and Indonesia came to an end. Out of these three countries, Germany and Indonesia were eligible to run for a second term. Georgia will rotate out of the SC after having served two consecutive terms, as outlined in the OGP Articles of Governance.

Results of the election

Four candidates, the governments of Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Germany, and Indonesia, stood for election. Voting concluded on July 19, with 77% 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 4 points, while second place received 3 points, third place 2 points and fourth place 1 point. The final results are outlined in the table below.

With these results, we are pleased to announce that the governments of Chile, Germany and Indonesia have been elected by their peers to three-year terms on the OGP Steering Committee beginning on October 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.

Criteria to run for a government seat on the Steering Committee 

The criteria to run for a seat in the SC is as follows:

1. Improved or maintained their Core Eligibility Scores since submitting a letter of intent to join OGP;
2. Acted in accordance with the OGP Declaration;
3. Acted in accordance with OGP processes for the most recently completed Action Plan cycle (i.e. the country must not have acted Contrary to Process, as set out in Article II.B.4);
4. Paid their financial contribution to OGP, as set out in Article VI.B**; and
5. Complied with the minimum Participation and Co-creation Standards set out in Addendum C.

In addition to the above requirements, current government members of the SC running for re-election must have regularly attended and actively participated in meetings of the SC and the SC subcommittees, with Ministerial-level participation where applicable.

**In February 2022, the Governance and Leadership Subcommittee waived the financial contributions requirement for the 2022 election cycle. See the full resolution here.

Steering Committee composition

The composition of the Steering Committee through September 30, 2022 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 three seats opening up this year is as follows: up to one from Africa; up to three from Americas; up to three from Asia-Pacific; and up to one from Europe.

SC Co-Chair selection process

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 current co-chairs are the government of Italy and Aidan Eyakuze of Twaweza (Lead co-chairs), and the government of Estonia and Anabel Cruz of ICD Uruguay (Incoming co-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, may run to serve as co-chairs. New Co-Chairs to follow Estonia and Anabel Cruz will begin as an Incoming Co-Chair, and assume the role of Lead Chairs for one year on October 1, 2023.

All interested candidates are asked to submit a letter of candidacy addressed to the current SC co-chairs, and include responses to the following 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.

The deadline for expressions of interest has been extended to Q2 2023. 

Timeline for the 2022 Government Elections