Senegal Action Plan Review 2023–2025

Senegal’s second OGP 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... largely carries forward unfinished reforms from the first action plan. Commitments to pass an Access to Information Law, strengthen the anti-corruption legal regime, and join the Fisheries 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 Initiative show particular promise. The election of a new administration in March 2024 based on an anti-corruption platform suggests momentum around previously stalled reforms.

Senegal’s second OGP action plan has eight commitments that aim to advance government transparency as well as improve access to public services and citizen participation. Commitment 8 on local open government is a new addition to Senegal’s OGP action plans. The other seven commitments are updated and continued from the previous plan, which saw limited implementation.[1]

This report focuses on three commitments assessed to have the highest potential for positive results. All three align with priorities for the new government administration as of April 2024 and benefit from strong ministerial leadership. 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 seeks to pass the Access to Information Bill, Commitment 3 promises to strengthen the powers of the National Office for the Fight against Fraud and Corruption, and Commitment 4 aims for Senegal’s accession to the Fisheries Transparency Initiative.

The action plan was developed through a broader and more inclusive process than the first. Public consultations were held across all regions. Government and civil society co-chairs of the National Technical Committee noted increased interests to participate and remain involved through implementation.[2] Public consultations led to the inclusion of Commitment 8 on local open government.[3]

Senegal fell short of meeting the minimum requirements of OGP Participation and Co-Creation Standards during action plan development.[4] Specifically, Senegal did not publish a timeline for the co-creation process in advance that included information on how to engage. The OGP process in Senegal is overseen by the Directorate for the Promotion of Good Governance (DPBG) of the Ministry of Justice. A recent change in the Minister of Justice and the Director of DPBG positions also means that future OGP process, including this action plan implemented, will be overseen by a new leadership. In a positive development, the Minister of Justice formalized Senegal’s National Technical Committee through a decree in June 2024.[5]

Commitment design improved from the first action plan, especially noting that each commitment milestone includes information of implementers and budget sources. However, Commitments 2, 7, and 8 fail to showcase strong potential for results due to unclear responsibilities among the implementing actors. Commitments 5 and 6 lack a clear connection to open government as currently written and are therefore not analyzed in detail. Reformers have the opportunity to identify implementers and strengthen the open government lens during implementation.

Promising Commitments

The following review looks at the three 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] “IRM Results Report: Senegal 2021-2023,” Open Government Partnership, July 2024, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Senegal_Results-Report_2021-2023_EN.pdf.

[2] Arona Sarr (Former Director for Promotion of Good Governance & Former OGP Point of Contact, Ministry of 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...), interview by and correspondence with IRM researcher, 24 April 2024.

[3] Abdoulaye Ndiaye (Article 19 & OGP MSF Co-Chair), interview by and correspondence with IRM researcher, 29 April 2024.

[4] “OGP Participation and Co-Creation Standards,” Open Government Partnership, 2021, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/ogp-participation-co-creation-standards.

[5] “Déclaration – Sénégal: L’Arrêté créant le comité national du PGO (Partenariat pour un Gouvernement Ouvert), un pas décisif pour le suivi des objectifs du gouvernement ouvert,” [Declaration – Senegal: The Order creating the national committee of the OGP (Open Government Partnership), a decisive step for monitoring the objectives of open government], Article-19. https://article19ao.org/declaration-senegal-larrete-creant-le-comite-national-du-pgo-partenariat-pour-un-gouvernement-ouvert-un-pas-decisif-pour-le-suivi-des-objectifs-du-gouvernement-ouvert.