2023 Government Steering Committee Elections

Updated June 13, 2023

Three government seats will open in the Steering Committee (SC) on October 1, 2023 as the current terms of Canada, Italy, and Kenya come to an end. Out of these three countries, Canada and Italy will rotate out of the Steering Committee after having served two consecutive terms. Kenya was able to run for a second term.

Results

Five candidates, the governments of Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Philippines, Spain, and the United States, stood for election. Voting concluded on March 24, with 88% 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 5 points, while second place received 4 points, third place 3 points, fourth place 2 points, and fifth place 1 point. The final results are outlined in the table below.

With these results, we are pleased to announce that the governments of the United States, Spain and Kenya have been elected by their peers to three-year terms on the OGP Steering Committee beginning on October 1, 2023.

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 Estonia and Anabel Cruz of ICD Uruguay (Lead co-chairs).

We are currently recruiting two sets of Co-Chairs. The first pair of newly elected co-chairs will follow Estonia and Anabel Cruz and begin their one-year term on October 1, 2023. The second pair will begin as ‘Incoming’ chairs on October 1, 2023, and assume the role of ‘Lead’ chairs for one year on October 1, 2023.

All Steering Committee members, including newly elected, may run to serve as co-chairs. All interested candidates must submit a letter of candidacy addressed to the current SC co-chairs, and include responses to the following questions:

1. How would your government support the implementation of OGP’s 2023–28 Strategy, and what areas of the strategy would your government focus its leadership efforts on? Are there specific thematic areas within the strategy that you would like to prioritize during your chair term?
2. How would your government demonstrate leadership of OGP at the international level during your chairmanship, and what actions could it take to forge new and strengthen existing engagement between OGP and other partners and international platforms your government may be part of?
3. How could your government leverage this leadership role to further advance your domestic open government agenda and lead by example during your chairmanship term? How would you propose to support greater peer exchange among governments and civil society within your region or beyond to encourage the uptake of concrete reforms on priority thematic areas?
4. Which Ministry would lead your OGP chairmanship (if different from the 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? A designated point of contact within your government’s foreign ministry to work closely with OGP during your government’s chair term is strongly recommended.

The deadline to submit candidacy statements is September 5. Please address a letter of intent, signed at the ministerial level, to the two current co-chairs and send to jaime.mercado@opengovpartnership.org by this deadline.

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.
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.

Responsibilities of the OGP Steering Committee

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).

The Steering Committee meets at least twice a year, once at ‘working-level’ (represented by the government OGP point of contact) and once at ministerial level (represented by the Minister in charge of the OGP portfolio in the country). Meetings may take place virtually and/or in person. Additional issue-specific, or opt-in briefings, are also held throughout the year, as needed. In addition to meetings, Steering Committee members are expected to participate in high-level OGP events such as global/regional summits, often hosted at ministerial and Head of State/Government level.

As the leadership body of OGP, the Steering Committee is also asked on occasions to speak out when other OGP members fail to uphold OGP values (e.g. expressing concern regarding declining civic space in El Salvador), or in response to crisis situations that emerge (e.g. condemning the Russian attack on Ukraine). Oftentimes these require a swift response, such as publishing an official statement within days. Given the international component of Steering Committee membership, Steering Committee governments are encouraged to work closely with their colleagues from foreign ministries, and identify a focal point within their MFA that OGP can liaise with in order to help streamline coordination efforts. In some situations, MFA representatives may also need to engage in diplomatic outreach and coordination with other foreign ministries to agree on a common position while fulfilling its governance role.

Criteria to run for a government seat on the Steering Committee

In order to join the Steering Committee, according to the Articles of Governance, a country must have:

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 (i.e. must not have an active Response Policy case open);
3. Acted in accordance with OGP processes for the most recently completed Action Plan cycle (i.e. must not have acted Contrary to Process);
4. Paid their financial contribution to OGP, as set out in Article VI.B; and
5. Complied with OGP’s minimum Participation and Co-creation Standards.

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.

Current makeup of the Steering Committee

The government SC composition as of September 30, 2023:

Timeline for the 2023 Government Elections