Clarifying OGP National Action Plan Deadlines

By June 30th, the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More Support UnitThe OGP Support Unit is a small, permanent group of staff that work closely with the Steering Committee and the Independent Reporting Mechanism to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership.... is expecting to receive 51 final National Action Plans in both the country’s administrative language and English so we can upload them onto opengovpartnership.org.  Well, not exactly.  While the official submission deadline may be June 30th, we know from our regular communication with the OGP points of contact that some delays are expected and several governments will submit an 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... after the deadline.  

These delays have the potential to cause confusion in the OGP community as to what the rules are.  Below, we compiled some key things to know about delayed OGP action plans. We encourage governments to be open with civil society in their county on the reasons for any delay, and to consult civil society on the timeline for finalizing the action plan.  The OGP rules regarding delays are circulated annually to all OGP government points of contact, and are publically available on the OGP website.  

What you need to know about action plan delays:

Delays happen.  New action plans can be delayed for a variety of reasons.  A delay could be the result of an election, government reshuffle, difficulty in seeking required approvals, a decision to extend the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... with civil society or a combination of these factors.  OGP is a political initiative and conditions are likely to change over the course of an action plan, and change often comes with little notice.  I work with 18 countries and nine of them have national electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... More scheduled for this year (possibly more will come).  Even more have reshuffles, delays in forming governments or have totally restructured the way they do consultations or are considering doing so.  While delays are not encouraged, the OGP Support Unit realises that on occasion a more flexible approach can result in a stronger final National Action Plan.

Governments are not required to seek the approval of the OGP Support Unit on their revised timeline.  The OGP Articles of GovernanceThe OGP Articles of Governance establish the mandate and high-level policies of the Partnership, including the Steering Committee, the Support Unit, and the Independent Reporting Mechanism. They also ... do not permit the Support Unit to make exceptions to any deadlines. As the Support Unit is not in a position to grant extensions, governments are not required to seek an extension.  We appreciate it when governments inform of us of any revised timelines and hope that if there is a delay, they will inform and work with civil society in the country.  The Support Unit also can help countries with tools and resources to strengthen co-creation processes.  

If documents are submitted within four months of the deadline there is no further action taken by OGP.  The only effect of late submission within four months of the deadline is that the IRM report will note that the plan was submitted past the June 30 2016 deadline and record the final date of submission. Governments should also note that the final date of an action plan does not change.  If submitting late, governments will also have less time to implement the commitments in the plan.  If a government publishes the action plan after November 1, 2016 the Criteria and Standards subcommittee of 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... will be informed that the country has acted contrary to OGP processes.  Countries will be placed under review if found to have acted contrary to OGP processes in two consecutive action plan cycles.  

All stakeholders in any country with a delay should begin co-creating an National Action Plan as soon as possible.  We encourage both government and civil society in all countries with delays to use any extra time taken to produce a very strong action plan reflective of national priorities on open government.  Treat this delay as an opportunity to agree on a more extensive and inclusive co-creation process, and spend more time learning from the experiences of other countries.