Open Government Partnership Welcomes Giorgi Kldiashvili to its Steering Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 27th, 2017 – The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is proud to welcome Giorgi Kldiashvili, a founding member and director of Georgia’s Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), as one of two new civil society Steering Committee members, alongside Tur-Od Lkhagvajav, co-founder and President of Transparency International Mongolia. The Steering Committee, co-chaired by the Government of France and Manish Bapna of the World Resources Institute, is composed of 11 governments and 11 civil society leaders and serves as OGP’s executive decision-making body, steering the organization’s direction and development and establishing the core policies and rules of the Partnership.

OGP is a global movement for greater openness and deeper democracy, and a countervailing force against the rise of closed government, closing of civic space, and distrust in government. Established in 2011 by eight governments and nine civil society leaders on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, OGP today includes 75 national governments, 15 subnational governments, eight multilateral organizations, and thousands of civil society organizations.

The call for applications to join the Steering Committee brought 29 highly accomplished and motivated candidates, who were then shortlisted to 10, from which two were finally selected.  We were heartened by the incredible participation, which is a further sign of global interest in the open government movement.

Giorgi has conducted consultancy projects with international and multilateral organizations, such as USAID, UNDP, and the EU in Georgia and abroad. In addition, he is the author of a number of publications related to freedom of information, anti-corruption and good governance, accountability and transparency, e-Governance and e-Democracy, open data, civil service and public administration, media and internet. He is a civil society chair of the successful Open Government Partnership (OGP) Forums at the Government and the Parliament of Georgia. Since 2013, Giorgi has been a member of the Inter-Agency Anti-Corruption Council of Georgia and co-chair of the Freedom of Information working group at the Council.

Giorgi’s election comes at a significant moment for Georgia in OGP, as the government prepares to take over the chair role from France on October 1, and with capital city Tbilisi as one of 15 participants in OGP’s first Subnational Pilot Program. “Joining the OGP Steering Committee is a great opportunity and responsibility for me, especially now when Georgia is to serve as the OGP Chair,” Giorgi said. “I believe that it is vitally important to promote the OGP platform in Georgia. OGP principles, such as citizen involvement, freedom of information, accountability and transparency of the government, technologies and innovations, can significantly increase citizens’ trust towards government and parliament and ensure citizens’ participation in the decision-making processes. ”

OGP’s Director for Civil Society Engagement, Paul Maassen, welcomed Giorgi to the Steering Committee, saying, “Giorgi is a passionate champion of open government reforms. He has been a key advocate for many of the commitments Georgia made and delivered, and has pushed the boundaries of the open government agenda. He has been instrumental in institutionalizing the Open Government Georgia Forum, a strong example of a permanent dialogue mechanism where the OGP process can really take root. As a civil society leader, he has inspired reformers at home and throughout Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.”

ENDS

About OGP:

OGP was formally launched on September 20, 2011, on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting, when eight heads of state, along with nine civil society leaders, endorsed the Open Government Declaration and published the first cohort of OGP National Action Plans.

Today, OGP is composed of 75 national governments, 15 subnational governments, eight multilateral organizations, and thousands of civil society organizations who together have made over 3,000 commitments towards open government reforms to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to make governments more open, effective, and accountable to citizens around the world.

For more information about how Open Government Partnership works visit our website, read our brochure, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our Newsletter and Gazette, or watch our films 5 Years of OGP and The Story of OGP.

For questions or to set up interviews please contact:

Dietlind Lerner, Director of Communications, dietlind.lerner@opengovpartnership.org

Further information about the OGP Steering Committee elections, schedule, eligibility criteria can be found here.