Star Commitments in OGP

Each OGP government partners with civil society to promote 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, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to improve governance. OGP has become a global movement of reformers working to make government more effective and responsive to its citizens.

A National 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..., developed in collaboration with civil society, is at the heart of each country’s participation. The National Action Plan translates the political will demonstrated when a country joins OGP into concrete action. Each National Action Plan contains specific commitments to enhance transparency, accountability, and 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 government. Commitments are subject to independent review. OGP encourages reformers to use innovations in public policy and new technologies to transform the culture of government and to serve the public better.

OGP’s model is unique. It does not prescribe standards for openness that countries should follow, nor does it specify sectors to target. Its deliberate, context-specific approach is designed to bring government and citizens together to define their own priorities for reform. As a voluntary partnership that emphasizes collaboration, OGP trusts in the power of ideas. Governments are encouraged to experiment with bold reforms that address urgent public policy challenges, learning from and inspiring each other along the way. This emphasis on big ideas drives the nearly 2,500 commitments in more than 110 action plans since OGP was founded in 2011.

This guide showcases a selection of commitments from OGP action plans that the OGP 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 ... awarded “star” status in its latest cycle of reports. They represent exemplary reforms that have potentially transformative impact on citizens in the country of implementation. Our goal is to update and to share continually new commitments that are awarded star status in subsequent IRM reports. For more information on how the IRM awards stars, refer to the Annex in the document.

Star commitments should encourage a race to the top among OGP countries by highlighting ambitious and innovative approaches to tackling major public policy challenges. By drawing attention to these ideas, we hope government and civil society reformers will adopt and adapt them in future National Action Plans to push the frontiers of open government in their countries.

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