Inception Report – Action plan – São Paulo, Brazil, 2021 – 2024
- Action Plan: Action plan – São Paulo, Brazil, 2021 – 2024
Overview
Name of Evaluator
Maria Alexandra Viegas Cortez da Cunha e Gabriela Boechat
Member Name
São Paulo, Brazil
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... Title
Action plan – São Paulo, Brazil, 2021 – 2024
Section 1.
Compliance with
co-creation requirements
1.1 Does a forum exist?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
Since the first Action Plan, the city of São Paulo has structured the Multi-Stakeholder ForumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... (Fórum de Gestão Compartilhada – FGC) with representatives from civil society and the municipal government.
The representatives of organized civil society are chosen by election. There are eight seats (with full and alternate seats), for representatives of the academic sector in the area of public management (01 seat), the private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat... (01 seat), social or popular movements (02 seats), civil society with experience in open government (02 seats), civil society in the area of innovation and technology (01 seat) and civil society in the area of public policies (01 seat).
In addition to civil society, there are eight representatives from municipal departments, selected by nomination. There is also representation from the Municipal Court of Auditors, as an observer. In this third edition of the plan, the departments were nominated only after the selection of the area of the commitments, due to their proximity or thematic affinity.
The FGC election process for the construction of the third Action Plan began in 2020 with the publication of a public notice (Edital SGM n. 02/2020) in the Municipal Register (Diário Oficial Municipal) and ended in 2021 with the publication of the selected organizations. After the public notice publication, the organization’s documentation was analyzed. Then, there was a public election through the website Participe+. The most voted organizations occupied the seats. The FGC had some changes throughout the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... (after six months of election), due to the restructuring of some organizations and the time dedicated. However, the organizations were replaced and the Forum was active until the end of the co-creation process.
Provide evidence for your answer:
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
- Evidence of the process of election and replacement of entities of the Multistakeholder Forum (process n. 6011.2020/0003680-9).
- Result of the public election on the Participate+ portal
1.2 Is the forum multi-stakeholder?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The Multi-stakeholder Forum (Fórum de Gestão Compartilhada – FGC) has 08 (eight) seats with representatives of the public power, 08 (eight) seats reserved for civil society, and 01 (one) external control agency, as an observer. Thus, it is a deliberative forum that ensures voting power parity. Below is the current composition of the Forum:
Public Sector: Controladoria Geral do Município, Secretaria Municipal da Educação, Secretaria Executiva de Gestão, Secretaria Municipal da Casa Civil, Secretaria Executiva de Planejamento e Entregas Prioritárias, Secretaria Municipal de Relações Internacionais, Secretaria Municipal de Saúde, Secretaria Municipal de Fazenda.
Civil Society: COLAB-USP (Colaboratório de Desenvolvimento e Participação), Instituto Prospectiva – Inspro, Instituto Cidades Sustentáveis, Observatório Social do Brasil – São Paulo, Rede pela Transparência e Participação Social, Coletivo Ocupa Mãe, Delibera Brasil, Fundação Álvares Penteado (FECAP).
External Control: Tribunal de Contas do Município (Municipal Court of Auditors).
The original composition of the Forum after the election included the organizations Fast Food da Política, Insper, and Instituto Escola do Povo, which were left in the course of the work. Chosen by the Multistakeholder Forum itself and corroborated by the Interdepartmental Committee for Open Government of the city of São Paulo (Comitê Intersecretarial de Governo Aberto da cidade de São Paulo), the following organizations were selected to occupy the vacant seats: Auspin (Agência Usp de Inovação), Coletivo Ocupa Mãe and Fundação Álvares Penteado (FECAP). In addition, the Secretaria de Governo Municipal was replaced by the Secretaria Municipal da Casa Civil, due to the reallocation of the Open Government Sector of the city between the departments.
Provide evidence for your answer:
The current composition, after substitutions of entities, of the Forum can be seen in the publication of the Official Gazette of the city of São Paulo on June 18, 2021.
1.3 Does the forum hold at least one meeting with civil society and non-governmental stakeholders during the co-creation of the action plan?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
By the end of the co-creation process, twelve meetings of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum had been held. In addition to these alignment meetings, the Forum members (government and civil society) divided themselves into three Working Groups (WGs): Co-creation, Communication, and Strategic Vision. These WGs also met to debate and define the guidelines of the co-creation process. All meetings were open to public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio....
The Forum also conducted, throughout the process, open workshops aiming to create spaces for popular participation. Different actors were able to participate and contribute to the construction of the plan, such as municipal councilors, civil society experts on the themes of the workshops, street-level bureaucrats, and others.
Provide evidence for your answer:
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
- Meetings and materials derived from the Forum meetings and workshops.
- Materials derived from the Co-creation WG.
- Materials derived from the Communication WG.
- Materials derived from the Strategic Visioning WG.
1.4 Has the action plan been endorsed by the stakeholders of the forum or 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.../group?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
Throughout the co-creation process, there were no major divergences concerning the commitments, which culminated in the general approval by the stakeholders.
In the last meeting of the co-creation process of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, on September 9, 2021, the commitments and milestones were reviewed jointly by the government and civil society. The Plan was then sent to the Interdepartmental Committee for Open Government of the city of São Paulo for final approval and submission to the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More.
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
- Interviews were held with public authorities (Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto – Casa Civil, Controladoria Geral do Município, and Secretaria da Fazenda) and with members of the Multistakeholder Forum.
- 12th Forum Meeting (09/09/2021)
Section 2.
Recommended practices
in co-creation
2.1 Does the government maintain a Local OGP website or webpage on a government website where information on the OGP Local process (co-creation and implementation) is proactively published?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto (Open Government Coordination) has a web page with all the actions of the City of São Paulo, including the history of the previous Action Plans and the process of co-creation and implementation of the current Plan. The page is updated as activities are carried out.
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
- Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto.
- Page with the Action Plans carried out by the São Paulo City Hall.
- Page with the 3rd Open Government Action Plan.
2.2 Did the government provide information to stakeholders in advance to facilitate informed and prepared participation in the co-creation process?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
In its first meeting of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, the City of São Paulo provided information about the partnership between the government and the Open Government Partnership, the previous Action Plans, and explained other necessary information, such as the calendar of upcoming meetings, how the partnership works and the process of co-creation of the Plan. In the subsequent meeting members of the previous Forum were invited to share the experience of the second Action Plan with the new members.
Besides these opening meetings, the Forum kept the habit of informing participants during the first minutes of the co-creation workshops, recalling relevant information to ensure qualified participation. The City of São Paulo also made information about the co-creation process available through an online information repositoryAccess to relevant information is essential for enabling participation and ensuring accountability throughout the OGP process. An OGP repository is an online centralized website, webpage, platform or ....
Provide evidence for your answer:
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
- Open Government Coordination Information Repository
- Sample presentation with information about the co-creation process
- 1st Meeting of the 3rd Forum (02/03/2021)
2.3 Did the government ensure that any interested member of the public could make inputs into the action plan and observe or have access to decision-making documentation?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The co-creation processes were participatory and open to the public, through public consultations and online workshops, from the conception of the methodology to the approval of the plan. In addition, the meetings of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum are open to people interested in contributing to the open government policy.
An important point of attention, that may have restricted the participation of other interested people, was that the process was conducted entirely online. It is understandable because this process occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, but for future co-creation processes, it should also be considered in the methodology to develop face-to-face actions to ensure capillarity and effective participation.
Finally, the City ensures that materials derived from the co-creation process, as well as meetings and workshops, are recorded and made available to the public to support decision-making.
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
- Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto.
- Open activities performed during the co-creation process
- Invitation to participate in the workshops and public consultations published on open channels such as Instagram (example)
- Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto Information Repository
2.4 Did the government proactively report back or provide written feedback to stakeholders on how their contributions were considered during the creation of the action plan?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
During the co-creation process, the City of São Paulo, together with the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, held two public consultations on the Participe+ platform. One was related to the co-creation of the Action Plan, and the other was related to the review of the commitments and milestones that would be present in the Plan. For both consultations, the City made available feedback on each contribution for all stakeholders on the platform.
Regarding the co-creation process, the City made a form available at the end so that the members of the Forum could evaluate the implementation of the co-creation methodology.
Provide evidence for your answer:
- Feedback Meeting Presentation
- Consultation Feedback: Review of Commitments and Milestones
- Consultation Feedback: Co-creation of the 3rd Plan
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
13th Meeting of the Multistakeholder Forum
2.5 Was there an iterative dialogue and shared ownership between government and non-governmental stakeholders during the decision making process, including setting the agenda?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The co-creation process was developed jointly by governmental actors and external actors through the Multistakeholder Forum, from the conception of the methodology to decision-making, including agenda setting.
There was only one stage during the process in which civil society did not participate, but was aware of the government’s actions: the meetings with the government agencies responsible for the areas of the commitments to align the actions. This action was carried out only by the government due to the administrative nature of the action.
Provide evidence for your answer:
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
Interviews were held with public authorities (Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto – Casa Civil, Controladoria Geral do Município e Secretaria da Fazenda) and with members of the Multistakeholder Forum.
2.6 Would you consider the forum to be inclusive and diverse?
Moderately
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The election process for the Multi-Stakeholder Forum is carried out by selecting organizations from civil society and nominating public servants from the departments that constitute the Forum. Thus, there is no selection by representatives of specific segments.
There is good genderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... and generational representation (young and older people), but there is an absence of black participants, participants from the LGBTIQA+ community, and people with disabilitiesA government is not open unless it is accessible to all, and governments are working to ensure people with disabilities are afforded equitable services and opportunities to participate. Technical spec....
Regarding the types of organizations, the Forum is diverse. However, even though there is a seat designated for the private sector, there was no interest in occupying it.
Provide references here (e.g. interviews):
Interviews with public authorities (Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto – Casa Civil, Controladoria Geral do Município e Secretaria da Fazenda) and with members of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum.
Section 3.
Initial evaluation
of commitments
1 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... :
To improve the information tools and data on bidding and contracting, qualifying, and expanding the 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 of the São Paulo City Hall.
1.1 Is the commitment verifiable?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
There is data and information available about public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t.... However, during the co-creation process, it was identified that the city of São Paulo has several platforms and that the information is made available in a diffuse (in several systems and web pages) and non-standardized way.
The commitment aims to look at the bidding and contracting procedures to expand public transparency, specifying mainly which platforms will have their processes improved (Sistema Eletrônico de Informações – SEI and e-Publi) and how the information will be made available (through open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., which will count on a knowledge base to foster plain language).
All the milestones and action lines were drawn by the members of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum and the members of the Commitment Working Group, aiming to make it specific.
Action lines of the Commitment that can be consulted in process n. 6011.2021/0001930-2 to be accessed in this link.
Provide evidence for your answer:
1.2 Does the commitment language/activities clearly justify relevanceAccording to the OGP Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should include a clear open government lens. Specifically, they should advance at least one of the OGP values: transparency, citizen partic... to OGP values?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The commitment aims to improve the transparency channels that make available information on public bidding and contracting, contributing specifically to this OGP value.
Furthermore, the milestones present actions (creation of a knowledge base and training) with the purpose of broadening the population’s understanding of this information, facilitating citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More and social control.
Provide evidence for your answer:
1.3 Please select one option that best describes the commitment:
A continuation of ongoing practice in line with existing legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r..., policies or requirements.
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
Brazil passed a new Bidding and Contracting Law in April 2021, which added the value of transparency to its principles. In this regard, the new general rule states that all contracting procedures and contracts must be governed by transparency.
With this new guideline, all Brazilian municipalities must organize their information to be sent via API to the website Portal Nacional de Contratações Públicas, a new federal government platform that aims to centralize all procurement information in Brazil. In this way, the City of São Paulo and civil society have identified an opportunity to improve the management of the Municipality’s contracting information and improve transparency.
Provide evidence for your answer:
1.4 Please select one option that best describes the commitment:
Will result in a change of the rules, practices, or policies that govern a policy area, public sector, and/or relationship between citizens and is binding or institutionalized across government or specific institution(s).
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
If the commitment is successfully implemented, it will improve the information management of São Paulo City as a whole in the area of tenders and contracts, in addition to making open data available in a standardized and structured way for the population’s use, with tools for their understanding.
Provide evidence for your answer:
1.5 Are there any recommended changes to the design of the commitment to help improve its implementation?
For the design of this commitment, we recommend that the target audience for the training be specified. We also recommend that the standardization process be done in a collaborative way among the government sectors of the area, in order to understand the current state of information management and the specificities of various areas.
2 Commitment :
Strengthen the population’s engagement for monitoring the implementation of the Municipal Agenda 2030.
2.1 Is the commitment verifiable?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
All the milestones of this commitment are clear, with a deliverable: the improvement of a platform, the integration of the webpages containing the municipal plans with the Action Plans for the implementation of the Municipal 2030 Agenda, the implementation of the Communication and Engagement Plan, and continued training actions for the implementation of the Municipal Agenda. All the milestones and action lines were drawn by the members of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum and the members of the Commitment Working Group, aiming to make it specific.
Provide evidence for your answer:
- Action lines of the Commitment that can be consulted in process n. 6011.2021/0001939-6 to be accessed in this link.
2.2 Does the commitment language/activities clearly justify relevance to OGP values?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
One of the goals of this commitment is to create conditions and a plan for the government to engage the population in monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, encouraging the process of governmental accountability.
Provide evidence for your answer:
2.3 Please select one option that best describes the commitment:
A continuation of ongoing practice in line with existing legislation, policies or requirements.
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The City of São Paulo already has the Comissão Municipal ODS, a collegiate body for coordination and dialogue between government, the private sector, and civil society to provide transparency to the implementation process of the 2030 Agenda. Thus, it will continue a practice of promoting accountability.
Provide evidence for your answer:
2.4 Please select one option that best describes the commitment:
Is a positive change to a process, practice, or policy but will not generate a binding or institutionalized change across government or specific institution(s).
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The commitment has the positive potential of expanding to all citizens the possibility of monitoring, by better organizing the available information regarding the implementation of the Agenda Municipal 2030 (via the ObservaSampa Platform and the integration of communication pages), strategic planning, and continued training.
Nevertheless, it does not institutionalize any new instance or innovate in its actions, since the City already has a specific collegiate Commission in which it takes responsibility for its actions and with the presence of civil society, not presenting any new practice, just expanding an existing one.
Provide evidence for your answer:
2.5 Are there any recommended changes to the design of the commitment to help improve its implementation?
We recommend that the last milestone be more specific about the target audience of the educational activities and that the commitment encourage the engagement and participation of the population in person and not only online.
3 Commitment :
To promote actions for the institutional strengthening of Public Policy Councils and Collegiate Boards in the City of São Paulo.
3.1 Is the commitment verifiable?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The milestones are specific and have clear deliverables that can contribute to the institutional strengthening of councils and forums in the city of São Paulo, through regulations, training, and the design of communication mechanisms.
The milestones and action lines were drawn by the members of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum and the members of the Working Group, aiming to make it specific.
Action Lines of the Commitment that can be consulted in process n. 6011.2021/0001940-0 to be accessed in this link.
Provide evidence for your answer:
3.2 Does the commitment language/activities clearly justify relevance to OGP values?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
Since it deals with Councils and Collegiate Boards, the commitment aims mainly at strengthening citizen participation in the city of São Paulo. The commitment also seeks to encourage accountability, through the redesign of the “Diálogo Aberto” project, derived from the first Open Government action plan. Finally, it aims to qualify transparency in relation to information related to the councils and their participation instruments.
Provide evidence for your answer:
3.3 Please select one option that best describes the commitment:
A continuation of ongoing practice in line with existing legislation, policies or requirements.
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The commitment supports established institutional measures of citizen participation in the city of São Paulo, proposing improvements in communication channels and accountability.
Provide evidence for your answer:
3.4 Please select one option that best describes the commitment:
Have no indication of the added value or enhanced open government approach in contrast with existing practice.
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The commitment’s milestones, although verifiable, do not guarantee the institutional strengthening of Public Policy Councils and Collegiate Boards in the city of São Paulo. Thus, they do not present a potential for substantial changes.
The milestones are restricted to proposing, designing, and redesigning actions, without guaranteeing their implementation. In this regard, the actions can be carried out but without having an impact on social participation, maintaining the existing practices.
In one case that occurred due to some difficulties in the co-creation process, in which civil society demanded the revision of some regulations. However, the legal analysis, considering Brazil’s Supreme Court decision, indicated that the process of changing regulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming ... depends on another instance – the Legislative – and that the Executive has no competence for this purpose.
A good practice that the commitment presents is the training of the municipal councilors in various subjects, which qualifies their participation in government instances.
Provide evidence for your answer:
- 3rd OGP Local Action Plan
- Interviews with public authorities (Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto – Casa Civil, Controladoria Geral do Município e Secretaria da Fazenda) and with members of the Multistakeholder Forum.
3.5 Are there any recommended changes to the design of the commitment to help improve its implementation?
We recommend changes to ensure the impact of the actions on the institutional strengthening of the city councils, not just forecasting a possible improvement from the defined actions.
4 Commitment :
Generation and availability of data on hospital infrastructure and vaccination in the Municipality of São Paulo and the impact of Covid-19 on school attendance of students in the Municipal EducationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ... Network.
4.1 Is the commitment verifiable?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The commitment is verifiable by the publication of data related to the Covid-19 vaccination and hospital infrastructure, by the report analyzing the attendance of public school students during the pandemic period, and by the glossary of technical terms.
Provide evidence for your answer:
- Action lines of the Commitment that can be consulted in process n. 6011.2021/0001941-8 to be accessed in this link.
- Record of the Commitment Working Group Meeting (09/08/2021)
4.2 Does the commitment language/activities clearly justify relevance to OGP values?
Yes
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The commitment focuses on expanding the availability of Covid-19 related data and analyzing existing data regarding the attendance of students in the municipal public network, contributing mainly to the value of transparency.
The pandemic theme was also an indication of Open Government Partnership for the city.
Provide evidence for your answer:
- 3rd OGP Local Action Plan
- Interviews with public authorities (Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto – Casa Civil, Controladoria Geral do Município e Secretaria da Fazenda) and with members of the Multistakeholder Forum.
4.3 Please select one option that best describes the commitment:
A continuation of ongoing practice in line with existing legislation, policies, or requirements.
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The commitment was intended to be a new transparency practice. However, during the elaboration of the Action Plan, it was noted that the scope of data openness demanded by civil society was the responsibility of the state and federal executive governments. Thus, the scope of the commitment initially demanded by civil society was reduced to cover only what the municipal government could make available.
The final commitment focuses on opening up the data that the municipal government is responsible for and on making a Covid-19 impact report on education.
Provide evidence for your answer:
- Interviews with public authorities (Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto – Casa Civil, Controladoria Geral do Município e Secretaria da Fazenda) and with members of the Multistakeholder Forum.
- Action lines of the Commitment that can be consulted in process n. 6011.2021/0001941-8 to be accessed in this link.
4.4 Please select one option that best describes the commitment:
Is a positive change to a process, practice, or policy but will not generate a binding or institutionalized change across government or specific institution(s).
Provide a brief explanation of your answer:
The process of co-creation of the Action Plan occurred during the months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Open Government Partnership encouraged governments that were going through this process to select the health theme, encouraging Covid-19 information to be generated and made available.
However, the impact of this commitment lies in the practical use of the data and the commitment focuses only on the generation, availability, and interpretation through reports. The activities established in the commitment can contribute positively to possible evidence-based public policies. However, it was not defined in the commitment how this data will be further used.
Provide evidence for your answer:
- Interviews with public authorities (Coordenadoria de Governo Aberto – Casa Civil, Controladoria Geral do Município e Secretaria da Fazenda) and with members of the Multistakeholder Forum.
- Action lines of the Commitment that can be consulted in process n. 6011.2021/0001941-8 to be accessed in this link.
4.5 Are there any recommended changes to the design of the commitment to help improve its implementation?
We recommend that the first two milestones be revised to ensure the impact of transparency and access to information since the generation and availability of this data are the responsibility of the federal executive government, but there are data within the scope of municipal operations that should be made available to the population.
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