New Zealand Mid-Term Report 2016-2018 – For Public Comment

We invited you to comment on the Independent Reporting Mechanism’s Year 1 Progress Report for New Zealand’s 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.... The two-week public comment period closed 5 February 2018.

In early 2018, the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... published the Year 1 progress report for New Zealand’s second action plan. The report covers the first year of action plan implementation: October 2016 through June 2017.

In New Zealand, the findings from the IRM researcher, Keitha Booth, are summarized below:

“New Zealand’s second national action plan addressed issues ranging from access to information, budget 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, and civic participation. While the government took major steps toward improving access to 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..., at the midpoint of implementation of the plan nearly half of the listed commitments saw limited completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... in the first year. Going forward, it is important that the NZ government include meaningful reform in areas such as whistleblower protection, the Official Information Act, and citizen 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 ....”