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Republic of Georgia to Succeed France as Open Government Partnership Chair

OGP Support Unit|

Transition to Occur at High Level Event Showcasing OGP’s New Publication on the Importance of Trust in Government

NEW YORK, 19 SEPTEMBER 2017 –  The Open Government Partnership (OGP) co-chairmanship will pass from the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and Mr. Manish Bapna of the World Resources Institute, to Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili of the Republic of Georgia and Mr. Mukelani Dimba of the International School for Transparency.

“We are excited to welcome Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili of the Republic of Georgia and Mukelani Dimba of the International School of Transparency as our new co-chairs, and deeply thank President Macron of France and Manish Bapna of the World Resources Institute for the impressive work they have done over the past year as co-chairs, making OGP’s participating governments more transparent, open, and accountable, so that they truly serve their citizens, rather than serving themselves,” said OGP CEO Sanjay Pradhan. “Trust is at the very heart of OGP’s endeavors, and we look forward to working with our new co-chairs to increase the breadth and depth of open government initiatives.”

The transition will take place at a High Level Side event with Prime Minister Kvirikashvii, Mr. Dimba, and Mr. Bapna, where they will be joined by President Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia; Zoran Zaev, the Prime Minister of Macedonia; and Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría, the Vice President of Costa Rica.

During the event, OGP will also release a new publication featuring over twenty leading thinkers and practitioners discussing the role of trust in government. “Trust – The Fight To Win it Back” includes luminaries from around the world, including CEO Paul Polman of Unilever discussing how social accountability in business can help rebuild trust; Korea’s Minister of Interior and Safety, Kim Boo-Kyum, talking about “candlelight democracy” and the power of citizens in the wake of a corruption scandal; and Don Lenihan of Canada2020 urging citizens and governments toward an open dialogue.

“Trust is essential to good governance, and good governance is essential to trust,” said Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and a contributing author. “Documenting the battle to win back trust in government – both in developing and high-income countries – creates an important living document from which governments and civil society can learn how to rebuild fractured political systems.”

Publication authors include President Kvirikashvili; Frans Timmermans, the Vice President of the European Commission; Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam International; and Melinda Quintos de Jesus, the Executive Director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

  • The OGP High-Level Event will take place from 5:00pm to 6:30pm on September 19th, 2017. It will be live-streamed on our website. Video from the event will soon be housed on our youtube channel.

  • The event will be live-tweeted from @OpenGovPart with the hashtag #RenewTrust.

About OGP:

Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a unique multilateral initiative aimed at securing concrete commitments from governments 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.

OGP was formally launched on September 20, 2011, at the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting, when eight heads of state,along with an equal number of civil society leaders, endorsed the Open Government Declaration and published the first cohort of OGP National Action Plans with specific open government reform commitments. OGP has since grown to include over 70 national governments (representing a third of the world’s population), fifteen subnational governments, seven multilateral bodies, and thousands of civil society organizations. OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) holds governments accountable for their commitments by producing thorough, impartial reports that track progress on National Action Plans.

For more information about the Open Government Partnership, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our Newsletter and Gazette, and view us on our YouTube channel.

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