Seychelles Action Plan Review 2023–2025

Seychelles’ 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... indicates a growing open government community coalescing around issues of national importance. The action plan includes ambitious reforms to strengthen 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... in constitutional discussions and fisheries governance. The action plan was designed through a short but collaborative 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... and benefits from high-level government support.

Seychelles’ second action plan reflects national priorities. Commitments to further open the fisheries sector and deliberate constitutional issues have clear potential for opening government. The action plan also includes commitments addressing alcoholism, government employee wellness, and government IT capacity. As these three reforms are primarily internally facing, it is not yet clear to what extent they may open government to the public.

The Action Plan reflects the Seychelles´ four-year National Development Strategy (NDS),[1] which was prepared through broad public consultations. 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... (MSF) and other organizations that contributed to the co-creation process used the NDS to select relevant policy areas.

Two reforms hold the greatest potential to open government. 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... 2 promises to increase grassroots constitutional knowledge, broader understanding of the political power structure (executive, legislature, and judiciaryWhile a majority of open government reforms occur within the executive branch, OGP members are increasingly taking on commitments to increase the openness of the judicial branch. Technical specificati...), and amend laws parallel to the current constitution. Commitment 1 promises to bring more stakeholders to contribute to fisheries policymaking. It provides more civic participatory channels for the government and its citizenry to deliberate on best practices and sustainable governance. Moreover, it aims to formalize 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 (FiTI) Secretariat and the FiTI National Multi-Stakeholder Group (NMSG).

The quality of the action plan significantly improved from the previous action plan. Members of the civil societies interviewed noted that there were more adequate consultations than the previous action plan.[2] The co-creation, drafting, and submission occurred between October and December 2023. Despite this limited timeline, it was developed through a collaborative partnership between the government, independent state institutions, the corporate sector, and civil societies. Input generation initiatives were conducted with these entities to allow the representation of diverse voices. The involvement of independent state institutions championing Commitment 2 and the corporate sector spearheading Commitment 5 reinforces the importance of open governance to the overall stakeholders in Seychelles.

The civil society and government members were optimistic about the action plan’s potential to produce transformative results. Persistent lobbying from civil society organizations (CSOs) motivated the government to commit to the second action plan.[3] Nevertheless, there were concerns over the limited time frame, budgetary constraints, and lack of defined administrative structures to assure continuity. The one-and-a-half-year delay in the OGP action plan, from 2021 until 2023, was mostly attributed to the administration change. According to the Co-Chair of the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, Mr. Chrystold Chetty, the OGP process became a subject of concern after the 2023 OGP Global Summit in Estonia. The high-level participation of Vice President Ahmed Afif in the OGP process further signalled the importance of addressing existing issues and catalysed rapid movement. Likewise, the Point of Contact^[4]confirmed that they mobilized and relied on people with prior experience in the OGP process. In the future, it is recommended that the government and civil societies dedicate resources to formalizing the Multi-Stakeholder Forum, as well as allocating human resources to support to the OGP Point of Contact in their OGP Secretariat functions. This allows for continuity and maintaining institutional knowledge even in the event of administration changes.

The IRM observes that the limited co-creation time frame affected the overall presentation of Commitments 3, 4, and 5 in the action plan. For example, the scope of Commitment 5 is currently unclear, such as whether the public will shape government decision-making and whether implementation will result in policy changes. Moreover, Commitments 3 and 4 are positive initiatives but lack a clear connection to open government as they are internal reforms.

Seychelles has made notable strides in further institutionalizing OGP by establishing a multistakeholder 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..., OGP social media sites, and by locating OGP in the Cabinet Office. Reformers are encouraged to continue disseminating information on Seychelles’ open government work and structures to lay a foundation for broadening participation in the future.

Promising Commitments in Seychelles 2023–2025 Action Plan

The following review looks at the two 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] Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning—Department of Economic Planning, Seychelles National Development Strategy 2019-2023 (Mahé, Seychelles: 2019), http://www.finance.gov.sc/uploads/files/Seychelles_National_Development_Strategy_2019_2023_new.pdf.

[2] Chrystold Chetty (Transparency Initiative Seychelles & Co-Chair of Seychelles OGP Steering Committee), interview with IRM researcher, 15 March 2024.

[3] Chetty, interview.

[4] Margaret Pillay (Seychelles OGP Point of Contact), interview with IRM researcher, 11 March 2024.