Cabo Verde Action Plan Review 2023-2025

Cabo Verde’s OGP process continues to strengthen through the establishment of a multistakeholder forum. The second 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... contains more commitments and has a stronger open government lens than the first. There remains room to deepen civil society participation in action plan design and implementation. Reformers are also encouraged to identify how government 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 efforts can build towards greater public accountabilityAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, public accountability occurs when ”rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms ... More and civic participation in the longer term.

Cabo Verde’s second action plan comprises 8 commitments that primarily aim to increase government transparency. Commitments relating to open data, budget transparency, and public service deliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are... build on the first action plan. Commitments to strengthen transparency in the fisheries industry and 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... sector represent new policy areas and participating government bodies. Implementers are encouraged to consider how transparency reforms foreseen in the action plan can build towards strengthening civic participation and public accountability in the longer term.

The action plan includes more commitments than the previous one. All 8 commitments have an open government lens and are evaluated to have a modest potential for results.

Two policy areas are identified as most promising to open government. Commitments 1 and 2 have the potential to increase access to data and statistics through the introduction of an open data policy and portal. Commitments 7 and 8 promise to bring justice closer to citizens through online, regional, and mobile justice resources. The centers will provide crime prevention activities, referrals for justice services, and legal guidance and information.

The action plan aligns with government agendas, such as the Digital GovernanceAs evolving technologies present new opportunities for governments and citizens to advance openness and accountability, OGP participating governments are working to create policies that deal with the ... Strategy (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... 1) and the Justice+ Program (Commitment 7) as well as internationally supported projects under the World Bank (Commitment 1), the International Monetary Fund (commitment 5), and the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (Commitment 4). Implementers can use the OGP process to add value to these ongoing reforms, especially by engaging civil society in implementation.

The Government of Cabo Verde strengthened OGP institutions and processes leading up to the second action plan. Prime Minister José Ulisses Correia e Silva formally launched the co-creation process at a public event in May 2022.[1] Responsibility for OGP moved to the Ministry of State Modernization and Public Administration, with Minister Edna Oliviera appointed as OGP Ministerial Point of Contact. The National Multistakeholder Forum (FNM) was established in November 2022 with 22 government, 1 private sector, 1 academia, and 3 civil society representatives.[2] The FNM is thus heavily weighted in favor of government representation. The government also created a public OGP repository and Facebook page to provide the public with information on Cabo Verde’s OGP progress.[3] Consequently, Cabo Verde met all the minimum requirements under OGP Participation and Co-Creation StandardsCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders is at the heart of the OGP process. The Participation and Co-Creation Standards are intended to support this collaboration throug... during the co-creation period.

Civil society members shared that commitment themes and priorities were defined by the government, thus leaving limited room for civil society’s voice. A civil society representative interviewed by the IRM expressed hope for civil society to be engaged earlier and more broadly in the co-creation process to help define the priority areas to be addressed in the action plan.[4] Moving forward, Cabo Verde is encouraged to continue strengthening civil society’s role in developing and implementing open government reforms.

The IRM recommends that the FNM establish working groups with equal non-government and government members. Working groups could be organized around thematic policy areas, such as open justice (Commitments 7 and 8) and open data and statistics (Commitments 1 and 2). These working groups could develop implementation roadmaps that clarify specific activities and progress indicators that build towards commitment objectives as well as identify how the implementation of each commitment will add value to existing projects or strategies on which they are based. They could also outline opportunities for civil society to participate in implementing open government reforms. The FNM is encouraged to raise awareness of OGP process among civil society and leverage it in advancing policy priorities.[5]

Promising Commitments in Cabo Verde 2023–2025 Action Plan

The following review looks at the two clusters (comprising 4 individual commitments) that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. Promising commitments address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. They must be verifiable, have a relevant open government lens, and have modest or substantial potential for results. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

Table 1. Promising commitments

[1] “Construction of the roadmap elaboration of the OGP Plan: Cabo Verde 2022–2024,” Ministry of State Modernization and Public Administration, 18 May 2022, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z9gy4vmf435yl3w/AACkMV1s8vXNKN1p_qbZFk5na/03-Activities%26Events_Atividades%26Eventos/Open%20Gov%20Week%20Co-creation%20Workshop%20OGP%2018.05.2022/Report_Relat%C3%B3rio?dl=0&preview=OGP+WORKSHOP+REPORT+III+18.05.22.pdf.

[2] “Estatutos do Fórum Nacional Multissetorial para a Parceria de Governação Abert a em Cabo Verde,” [Cabo Verde’s OGP National Multistakeholder Forum Statute], Government of Cabo Verde, 12 December 2022, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z9gy4vmf435yl3w/AACeiL-dc3HVm287S2W5fzsUa/02-Steering%20Commitee_F%C3%B3rum%20Multissetorial?dl=0&preview=ESTATUTOS-DO-FOR%C3%9AM-NACIONAL-MULTILATERAL-PARA-A-OGP_15_11_2022_APROVADO.pdf.

[3] See Cabo Verde’s OGP member page, repository, and Facebook page: “Parceria de Governação Aberta (OGP) Cabo Verde,” [Cabo Verde OGP], Government of Cabo Verde, https://linktr.ee/ogpcv.

[4] Gerson Pereira (Rede de Associações Comunitárias e Movimentos Sociais), interview by IRM researcher, 2 March 2023.

[5] See: “The skeptic’s guide to open government – 2022 edition,” Open Government Partnership, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/skeptics-guide-to-open-government-2022-edition.