2023 Civil Society Steering Committee Candidate Video
Charlene Migwe-Kagume
View Charlene Migwe-Kagume’s application materials for the OGP Civil Society Steering Committee here.
For this video, candidates were asked to respond to the following questions:
- Why do you want to be on the Steering CommitteeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru..., and what would your priorities be?
- How will your participation in the Steering Committee be useful in strengthening open government in your region? OR
- What can the 2023-2028 OGP strategy do to advance the open government agenda and drive impact? How would you plan to advance the strategy as a Steering Committee member?
Once you’ve watched the video, leave a question or comment below! Candidates will respond directly. For more information about the CS SC selection process, see this page. Comments will close May 19.
Comments (8)
Amerley A Reply
All the best on your journey, Charlene. I encourage you to think specifically about youth engagement. Starting as early as secondary school. Young people increasingly have very little knowledge about civics which leaves them to operate in broken systems perpetuating broken outcomes.
Charlene Migwe Reply
Thank you Amerley. I couldn’t agree more. As you have rightly stated, youth engagement is important and we are seeing gaps in youth understanding and participation in governance matters. It is important now more than ever to support youth in understanding open government principles, particularly on how to access information about government processes, participate in public participation processes and be part of decision-making processes that impact their lives. Emphasis should also be on reaching youth outside urban areas, and be intentional on marginalized youth.
Sarah Wesonga Reply
I am rooting for you Charlene! Your work in implementing OCDS in Makueni County and other sub-nationals in Kenya has been exemplary and I hope the steering committee provides you an opportunity to champion for similar reforms in other jurisdictions
Charlene Migwe Reply
Thank you, Sarah, for the support and I look forward to working with pertinent stakeholders such as Article 19 in sharing the learning from the impactful work you currently work on globally. I see great potential to grow OGP’s impact already achieved in areas such as open contracting, anticorruption, beneficial ownership, digital governance and other priority areas that you can support grow.
Idah Knowles Reply
Hello Charlene,
I wish you all the best in this. We appreciate your efforts so far and the leadership you have provided the Open Contracting Cluster for Kenya OGP NAP IV. As we continue with the Co-creation for NAP V, I hope we continue moving with the same spirit. All the very best!!
Charlene Migwe Reply
Thank you Idah for the encouraging words. Looking forward to working together and growing the impact and momentum already achieved
Karen Reply
Hey Charlene. I wish you all the best in your application. You mention that you will champion agility but we all know governments are anything but agile (except for political incentives). What would you do to promote agility in government?
Charlene Migwe Reply
Thank you for the question Karen. I believe action plan ownership and periodic review of milestone activities owned by key institutions will break down the milestones into meaningful action from the government and CSO side, ensuring timely agility. Achieving action plan ownership and agility will require effectively articulating OGP principles to government and civil society and negotiations to strategically match civil society interests and programming, government priorities, citizen needs and what impact will look like. Additionally, the OGP 2023-2028 strategy gives a great approach to agility in quickly identifying and preparing for key moments of opportunity or crisis that could significantly alter the course of open government at the national or local level. This includes both for potential new governments coming to power that want to champion improving transparency, accountability, participation, and inclusion and for those that might mean a severe rollback of open government initiatives and an undermining of civic space