Panama Design Report 2017-2019
- Action Plan: Panama Action Plan 2017-2019
- Dates Under Review: 2017-2019
- Report Publication Year: 2020
- Researcher: Israel Aragón
Panama’s third 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 focused on anticorruption and it was designed through open participatory workshops, with high influence from civil society. The plan was widely distributed through the media, but it did not include participation of organizations from beyond the capital city. The plan’s 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... level is moderate, with only one 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... having potential transformative impact. Going forward, the country could ensure 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 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... and promote an inclusive dialogue, as well as develop more ambitious commitments that clearly state their expected outcomes.
| Table 1. At a glance
Participating since: 2012 Action plan under review: 3 (2017-2019) Report type: Design Number of commitments: 9 Action plan development Is there a multi-stakeholder forum? Yes Level of public influence: Collaborate Acted contrary to OGP process: No Action plan design Commitments relevant to OGP values: 8 (89%) Transformative commitments: 1 (11%) Potentially starred: 1 (11%) Action plan implementation Starred commitments: N/A Completed commitments: N/A Commitments with major DIOG*: N/A Commitments with outstanding DIOG: N/A *DIOG: Did it Open Government? |
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 (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. 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 ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Panama joined OGP and has since implemented two action plans. This report assesses the design of Panama’s third action plan.
General overview of the action plan
Panama’s third action plan is focused on creating tools to prevent and fight corruption and protect the public resources, in response to the high-level corruption cases reported in the last few years.
The Open Government Commission, created to follow up on the implementation and monitoring of the second action plan, was charged with the creation of the third plan. This resulted in higher participation and influence from civil society, as compared to previous action plans. The willingness of the National Transparency and Access to Information Authority (ANTAI in Spanish), agency in charge of advancing the open government agenda, as well as civil society’s positive response, created the enabling conditions to conduct a collaborative process.
However, the outcome was similar to previous action plans in terms of their ambition levels, with one transformative commitment and a balance between moderate and minor ambition. The third action plan covers four themes, i.e. anticorruption, public contracting transparency, public services and 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 .... Unlike the previous plan, it does not include 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... efforts. Commitment no. 4 is noteworthy, as it promotes the implementation of mechanisms to prevent corruption in public contracting.
Table 2. Noteworthy commitments
| Commitment description | Moving forward | Status at the end of the implementation cycle |
| 3. Increase transparency and accountability of public infrastructure projects
Enact a regulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming ... that requires public institutions to subject public infrastructure projects to the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST) standards. |
This commitment could be included in the following action plan, due to its potential impact to halt Panama’s corruption. In order to achieve transformative potential, the necessary resources will need to be secured to apply the CoST standards to all of the country’s public infrastructure projects, as stated by the commitment. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle |
| 4. Preventing conflicts of interestA key part of anti-corruption involves preventing or revealing conflicts of interest — when a public official is in a position to use public office for personal or private gain. Technical specificat... in the state’s public contracting
Implement instruments and mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest in public contracting |
The following action plan could include this commitment, increasing its potential impact by including activities to strengthen protection to whistleblowers that report conflicts of interest. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle
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| 9. Open Government Schools
Create an online platform that supports students’ civic training so as to incentivize and facilitate their participation in public affairs, including both the creation and monitoring of community projects, and public decision-making. |
To ensure the successful implementation of this commitment, it is necessary to clearly identify how it will be funded and whether projects will be monitored. In addition, there should be proper dissemination and strategic training of users. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle |
Recommendations
The IRM recommendations aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan.
Table 3. Five key IRM recommendations
| Formally create and consolidate a permanent dialogue forum for civil society and government to discuss open government initiatives |
| Design a strategy to prevent abrupt changes that result from political transitions |
| Identify, as part of the action plan and 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..., the methods and workplan that will guide the implementing institutions to engage civil society organizations during the action plan implementation |
| Follow up on previously implemented commitments that require follow-up, as well as additional initiatives, to increase its impact and reach, such as open data or regulation enactments |
| Moving forward, include more ambitious commitments, that are relevant to broader societal groups and that effectively address the identified issues |
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