Midterm Reviews: Tracking Progress of Four-Year Action Plans

In 2022, the OGP 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... introduced the option for countries to develop four-year action plans, giving them a longer timeframe to tackle ambitious reforms that need more time to take root.

In 2023 and 2024, 15 countries produced four-year action plans, representing a third of all national OGP action plans submitted in those two years:

What’s in the Four-Year Action Plans?

The 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 ... has noted similar levels of ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... of these four-year action plans compared to two-year action plans. Notably, some of the most ambitious commitments aim to mainstream open government reforms and pass legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r....

• Kenya has committed to pursue full implementation of the Access to Information Law.
• Mongolia has committed to pass the Extractive IndustriesApplying open government values of transparency, participation, and accountability to extractive industries can decrease corruption, safeguard community interests and needs, and support environmental ... 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 Bill.
• Norway is making more data available on public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... and creating a framework for managing such data centrally.
• Brazil will deliver clear national policies and guidelines to advance transparency in scientific research.

Several countries have aligned their commitments that support national strategies. This includes:

• Finland’s second four-year action plan is based on an open government strategy developed during the first one.
• Costa Rica’s action plan includes commitments to expand its national employment strategy and expand the crime prevention program “Sembremos Seguridad.”
• The Philippines’ commitments were largely prioritized based on relevanceAccording to the OGP Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should include a clear open government lens. Specifically, they should advance at least one of the OGP values: transparency, citizen partic... to the Philippine Development Plan, while developing an open government strategy outside the OGP 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... process.

In addition, the development of several four-year action plans involved a wider range of actors (civil society, government agencies, private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat..., academia, and others), compared to previous two-year action plans.

• The Republic of Korea expanded its multi-stakeholder forum to include academic and private sector representatives, while in Mongolia the National Committee for Human RightsAn essential part of open government includes protecting the sacred freedoms and rights of all citizens, including the most vulnerable groups, and holding those who violate human rights accountable. T... reactivated 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... and proactively published information on the national OGP website regarding co-creation.
• Stakeholders in the Netherlands used a manifesto from the “Talking About Information” coalition, with members from the private sector, civil society, academia, and the government, as a framework for jointly developing OGP commitments.
• Chile, Costa Rica, and Kenya’s four-year action plans cover the executive, 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 legislature. In fact, eight of the 15 action plans continued to pursue Open ParliamentEnsuring access to legislative information and creating mechanisms for public participation are critical to building an open, trusting relationship with citizens. Technical specifications: Commitments... commitments.

Midterm Reviews: A New IRM Product for Four-Year Action Plans

OGP requires four-year action plan cycles to include a refresh process to allow countries to update their plans following the first two years of implementation. As a result of this refresh process, countries may update, modify, or add new commitments that address current realities and needs or support the implementation of other commitments.

The IRM has introduced a new product to evaluate this refresh process—the Midterm Review. This evaluates any refreshed or new commitments and will provide a general update on implementation progress.
The first Midterm Review, covering the refresh of Latvia’s 2021-2025 action plan, has already been published, and another for Jordan’s 2021-2025 action plan will be published in 2025. Moving forward, the IRM will conduct Midterm Reviews for all four-year action plans submitted.

Find out more about this new product at https://www.opengovpartnership.org/irm.