Open Government Partnership Holds Fifth Global Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia

Over 90 Governments and Hundreds of Civil Society Organizations Convene in Tbilisi to Strengthen Open Government

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 17, 2018

Tbilisi, Georgia – The Open Government Partnership (OGP), and the Government of Georgia launched the 5th OGP Global Summit in Tbilisi at a high-level event featuring Heads of State from Sri Lanka, Serbia, Honduras, and the Kyrgyz Republic, ministers and mayors from over ninety governments, and representatives from hundreds of civil society organizations, including Transparency International, NRGI, and CIVICUS Alliance.

At the Summit, nearly two thousand attendees will discuss ways to combat government corruption, how to use open government to improve health, education water and other critical public services, and the importance of citizens playing an active and engaged role in their government.

Sanjay Pradhan, the Chief Executive Officer of OGP, warmly welcomed all government officials and civil society representatives to the Summit, and hopes attendees use this opportunity to share experiences and ideas on transformative open government practices. “In an environment where citizen trust in government is at historic low levels, open government approaches are putting citizens at the center of government, empowering them to shape and oversee government. At the Summit, we will learn from these innovative reforms that courageous leaders from government and civil society across OGP countries are implementing to win trust back.”

Co-Chair of the Civil Society Steering Committee, Mukelani Dimba, considers the Summit an important moment to reflect on the trajectory of governments and civil society in building stronger partnerships to advance open governance.

“Most importantly, it should be a moment for all partners to embrace the OGP platform to fundamentally change how we design and deliver essential public services for those most in need of government support for their survival and dignity,” Dimba explained.

Two New Countries Join OGP; 76 Action Plans in Creation

Senegal and Ecuador are the latest governments to join OGP, bringing the total number of OGP participants to 78 countries, 20 local governments, and thousands of civil society organizations.

“It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome Ecuador and Senegal as the newest members of OGP. We look forward to working with reformers in government and civil society in these countries to advance open government reforms, making government more transparent, participatory, responsive, and accountable to citizens. We hope that their new membership inspires other countries in the Africa and the Americas to join the Partnership,” said Pradhan.

In less than two years, the Ecuadorian government, in collaboration with civil society, was able to push important reforms on asset disclosure and improve conditions to better include civil society in the policy making process. A delegation from OGP will be visiting the country later this year to officially to begin the process.

Committed to pushing the open government agenda forward, Senegal becomes the thirteenth country in Africa to join the partnership. Senegal joins a network of reformers in government and civil society, driven by their desire to fight corruption and improve basic services. With Morocco joining OGP a few months ago, and now Senegal, the partnership will now have more reach in Africa to help connect governments to the citizens they serve.

76 governments participating in OGP will be creating action plans with civil society that address open government issues such as anti-corruption, public services, civic space, and gender equality. During his opening remarks, CEO Sanjay Pradhan called on to all governments to forge coalitions with civil society and citizens to shape policies that impact their lives.

Launch of CitizENGAGE

OGP is launching CitizENGAGE, a storytelling campaign showcasing engaged citizen experiences from around the globe. The campaign features stories on reformers both within and outside of government, and includes video stories from Costa Rica, Liberia, Madrid, Mongolia, and Paraguay, among others. The multimedia effort can be found online at OGPstories.org and by following hashtag #citizENGAGE.

New Trust Fund to Support Government and Civil Society Co-Creation

The World Bank, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the Government of Canada, and the Agence Française de Développement launched the OGP Multi-Donor Trust Fund to provide tailored and timely support that can best achieve greater impact for the partnership. Recognizing that lacking financial support and technical capacity are key constraints to the realization of ambitious open government reforms, OGP is now accepting proposals for the second round of awards for national and local OGP participants.