Panama Results Report 2023-2025

Panama’s fifth 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... included six commitments that continued the fourth action plan. However, progress has been limited, largely due to the change in administration following the 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 of May 2024, which led to changes in technical teams and liaison officers within the implementing agencies. This cycle highlights the importance of strengthening institutional continuity and empowering multi-stakeholder spaces to achieve better results and ensure the sustainability of future reforms.

Implementation

All commitments undertaken in Panama’s fifth Open Government Action Plan (2023–2025) continued activities and programs initiated in the fourth plan and, in some cases, those begun in the third action plan^[1]. CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 3 on Open Budgets, one of the six commitments included in the fifth plan, was fully completed. Commitment 5, related to the Open Government School, was also substantially completed. Commitments 1 on Open ContractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C... More, 2 on strengthening the National Environmental Information System, and 4 on Social Innovation Laboratories showed limited progress, while Commitment 6 on public policies on sexuality for adolescents and youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More is considered not started.

Compared to the previous cycle, there is a decline in the full completion of commitments^[2]. The commitments with the greatest progress were Commitment 1 on Open Contracting and Commitment 3 on Open Budgets.

In the first case, despite partial completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More, there has been an increase in the use of the PanamaenObras platform. There is potential to advance its effective use through training of other government agencies.

In the second case, full completion was achieved. This involved various activities related to the publication and dissemination of citizen budgets, a condensed and accessible version of the national budget. There is initial evidence of institutional capacity building, as the implementing agency, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, continued to produce and publish the 2025 Citizen Budget beyond the activities committed in the milestones^[3].

Of the three commitments identified as promising in the review of the fifth action plan, only Commitment 1 on Open Contracting and Commitment 5 on the Open Government School showed early, though moderate, results, while Commitment 2 on strengthening the National Environmental Information System shows no notable results.

Participation and Co-Creation

The entity responsible for open government in Panama is the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (ANTAI), which also serves as the country’s focal point for the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Implementation of the plan is coordinated through the multi-stakeholder forum, the National Open Government Commission (CNGAP) ^[4], which includes civil society organizations and other public entities responsible for implementing commitments.

For the implementation of the fifth action plan, 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... was composed, on the government side, of ANTAI, the National Authority for Government Innovation (AIG), and the Ministry of the Presidency; and on the civil society side, the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, the Center for Environmental Advocacy, and the Generation Without Limits Foundation as principal members, with the organizations Together We Decide, Kernel Community Think Tank, and the Independent Movement for Panama as alternate members, and the Citizen Alliance for JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as observers.

Although Panama met the minimum requirements for participation and co-creation, compared to the previous cycle, the fifth action plan saw a lower frequency of multi-stakeholder forum meetings, as well as fewer implementation reporting meetings following the national elections of May 2024. During the second year of implementation, 2025, only one regular meeting of the multi-stakeholder forum had taken place at the time of drafting this report^[5], on July 7, 2025^[6].

During co-creation, civil society activity was more intense, while during implementation, leadership falls primarily to ANTAI^[7]. At this stage, civil society organizations work directly with implementing agencies^[8], creating imbalances in the intensity of participation and collaboration among member organizations of the multi-stakeholder forum. At the same time, supporting the implementation of commitments requires resources and personnel that not all organizations can provide^[9].

Implementation in Context

The implementation of the fifth action plan began after its publication in August 2023 but was delayed due to the national elections of May 2024 and the inauguration of new authorities in July 2024.

The political dynamics following the May 5, 2024 elections were characterized by fragmentation and shifts in the party landscape. The elected president, José Raúl Mulino, took office on July 1 at the head of a coalition with minority representation. Given the change in political orientation of the new government, the transition in administration involved personnel changes in the presidency and across ministries.

This affected the implementation of commitments due to delays resulting from the appointment of new teams and technical focal points^[10], as well as their training on the fifth action plan, its commitments, the actions carried out up to that point, and the pending milestones. For example, meetings of the multi-stakeholder forum were affected due to delays in the designation of focal points from implementing agencies and the new leadership of ANTAI. Likewise, the change in authorities at the Ministry of Economy and Finance led to delays in hiring the experts required to advance PanamaenObras^[11].

As a result, progress in implementing the fifth action plan after July 2024 largely depended on the capacity of the new authorities to take on and continue the actions initiated previously.