Panama Action Plan Review 2023-2025

Panama’s fifth action plan includes six commitments, all part of the previous plan. The National Open Government Commission (CNGAP, per its acronym in Spanish) chose this continuity to expand the impact of prior[1] commitments and address the presidential elections of May 2024[2], prioritizing initiatives that could be completed before this period[3]. The commitments’ main challenge will be to ensure their continuity and results after the electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... More.

Panama’s fifth plan includes pending milestones from the previous cycle and new ones. Although this was a strategic decision due to the presidential elections in May 2024, the 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... is not innovative. Also, it has low ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... since it discarded new commitments and only includes initiatives that could be completed in one year. Therefore, modest results are expected compared to what was intended in the previous plan.

The six commitments are verifiable and have an open government lens. They address areas of open contractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C... More, access to environmental information, open budgets, participatory laboratories, 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 ... on open government issues, and sexual health. The IRM rated two of them as having substantial potential for results and four as having modest potential. Its limited ambition shows in its proposal’s scope, restricted to one-time activities, meaning they are not committed to continue developing them in the future.

The first commitment holds the same level of ambition as the previous action plan, which seeks to implement the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) and the Open Contracting Infrastructure Data Standard (OC4IDS) in the new version of Panama’s platform for public purchases (Panamacompra Version 3[4]). This would imply applying these standards to all goods or services contracts granted by public authorities while allowing the digitalization of their processes from start to finish.

This first 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... plus the one that aims to Strengthen the National Environmental Information System (SINIA, per its acronym in Spanish) and the one that seeks to develop an Open Government School were rated as promising. However, the latter was not considered to have the potential to obtain substantial results, but rather modest ones because it doesn’t specify the number of educational centers to which the Open Government School would reach. Also, it does not include the implementation of the changes suggested to the curricular programs.

The presidential elections will be held in the middle of the biennial period of this action plan. The country will be in full campaign for most of the first year of implementation. After the election, a transition will progressively take place, and the new authorities will take charge in July. This limits the availability of those who must implement the commitments, having to prioritize these processes and could leave the Administration as of July 2024.

Aware of this reality, the CNGAP, a multi-stakeholder group in charge of carrying out the OGP process, chose to continue working on those open government initiatives that could have the greatest impact and be completed within the times and circumstances. “The achievements and progress of the different topics addressed in the previous (action plan) were assessed, aiming to the following initiatives based on two aspects: the will and responsibility of the civil society organization that presented the proposal and the institutional commitment to continue the project.” [5]

This Commission’s position didn’t satisfy all civil society organizations and people involved in the open government agenda. From their perspective, the opportunity was lost to engage the new Executive Branch by extending the milestones to be met to its first year in office[6].

Contrary to all previous action plans, this plan’s commitments were chosen online. Through thematic tables and the consultation space open to the public, commitments that would be continued and milestones from previous plans to be included in the new one were defined. Some members of civil society perceived their participation as a validation of the Commission’s proposals since no space was opened for suggestions for new initiatives[7].

One of the biggest challenges that commitments will face will be achieving their continuity after the presidential elections of May 2024. Although some commitments include the creation of legal instruments for this purpose, the risk of discontinuity remains. This risk could be reduced with the close monitoring of CNGAP.

[1] Carmen Montenegro, Point of Contact of the National Authority for 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 Access to Information. Interview conducted on October 4, 2023.

[2] Opinion shared by Carmen Montenegro, Point of Contact of the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information, and Ricardo Herrera, president of the Generación Sin Límites Foundation, one of the civil organizations that makes up the National Open Government Commission.

[3] Plan de Acción Nacional de Gobierno Abierto 2023-2025, Republic of Panama.

[4] https://www.panamacompra.gob.pa/Inicio/#/

[5] Plan de Acción Nacional de Gobierno Abierto 2023-2025, Republic of Panama.

[6] José Benítez, former coordinator for the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom of the Open Budget Project

[7] Jorge Quirós, representative of the Chamber of Architects on the Board of DirectorsThe OGP Board of Directors provides the fiduciary and legal oversight of the OGP Support Unit and the Independent Reporting Mechanism, which is housed within the OGP Secretariat, a US-based 501 (c)(3)... of the CoST Initiative, and José Benítez, former coordinator for the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom of the Open Budget Project.