The Politics of OGP Summits

Open Government Partnership summits are inherently political affairs. The mix of government and civil society leadership from around the world represents an opportunity to commit to lasting change. From experience, this only happens when civil society pressure complements the political incentives that come with appearing on a major stage in front of your counterparts from 70 countries.

So what can civil society do over the next three months to ensure the fourth OGP global summit delivers tangible results long after the participants leave Paris? First, encourage your country to be represented at the event at the highest possible level. Heads of state and government have been invited to attend, as will all ministers leading on OGP. The expectation should be that all OGP countries are represented in Paris at the political level and that political representatives of non-OGP countries who are interested in announcing their intention to join are also present. Second, think about what your current priorities are in relation to open government: Is there an 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... that is late and needs publishing? Do you need the minister to improve the quality of the citizen engagement process? Is there a potentially transformative open government reform that narrowly missed out being included in your last OGP action plan but could be added in Paris? OGP summits can be useful opportunities to secure real improvements and commitments at the national level. Third, raise the profile of the summit in your local media: Publish opinion articles, highlight recent reports from the Independent Reporting Mechanism. Make the argument that open government matters to citizens because it can improve their daily lives. With media activity, political attention often follows. Lastly, plan to attend the summit yourself. Registration will open in late September and we look forward to welcoming representatives from civil society organizations, government, media, private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat... More and more.

In short, it is vital that OGP events are not only enjoyable places to network, to make and meet friends, and to share ideas, they must also be political action-forcing events that move the open government agenda forward and raise our collective 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.... OGP is approaching its fifth birthday and faces a test of how we collectively deepen our impact so that in the next five years and beyond OGP is used to deliver evermore transformative change for citizens. From a recent trip to Paris I know the French Government are fully committed to making sure this summit has lasting impact. The opportunity must now be fully grasped by all of us to make it a reality.