• The Philippines committed to set up independent, citizen-led monitoring of local infrastructure. The program covers 800 projects worth $56 million across all 17 regions of the country, and gives civil society a formal, funded role in overseeing how public money is spent, rather than a token seat at the table.
• Malawi committed to require public disclosure of the real owners behind companies bidding for public contracts, along with more open tendering. This closes a loophole that lets hidden owners rig procurement and capture public spending.
• Nandi, Kenya committed to build social inclusion into governance with dedicated budget lines and clear participation targets for public decision-making: raising youth participation to 50%, women to 40%, and people with disabilities to 20%. The goal is for marginalized groups to help shape the policies and spending that affect them.

• In Indonesia, provincial governments committed to expand access to clean water across at least three districts in East Nusa Tenggara and to set up participatory reviews of local programs.
• In Ecuador, the Municipios Abiertos initiative committed to strengthen planning and management capacity in local governments.
• And in Papua New Guinea, a new commitment aims to run regional budget literacy workshops so communities can better understand and engage with how public money is planned and spent.

• The adoption of the Vitoria-Gasteiz Declaration, which was endorsed by 160+ governments, civil society organizations, and partners, who pledged their commitment to democracy, civic space, and open government, making it one of the broadest collective statements of political support for open government in OGP’s history.
• A Summit agenda built around three pillars: People, Institutions, and Technology, with high-level sessions spanning responsible AI in government, anti-corruption and financial transparency, open contracting, justice sector reform, and digital public infrastructure, signaling the breadth of OGP’s evolving policy reach.
• The first-ever Open Gov Challenge Awards, recognizing reformers who are raising the ambition of open government across regions and themes.
• The Summit marked the leadership transition from Spain and Cielo Magno to the Government of Brazil and Steph Muchai as Co-Chairs for 2025-2026.

The following are examples of OGP coalition and network building within the past year.

• The OGP Coalition on Justice was relaunched at the OGP Global Summit with the Supreme Court of Chile and the Government of Canada co-leading, bringing together nine countries, three local members, and civil society partners to accelerate people-centered justice reforms through the Open Gov Challenge.
• The OGP Youth Collective was relaunched in partnership with Accountability Lab and the Youth Democracy Cohort, with 79 members accepted from all OGP regions, building the next generation of open government champions and ensuring youth voices shape reform design.
• The Civic Space Lab was launched in collaboration with UNDP, OECD, ICNL, ECNL, and FID, providing targeted support to reformers in countries to advance ambitious civic space reforms. This matters because protecting the conditions for open government, specifically the ability of citizens to speak, organize, and hold power to account, is foundational to every other reform OGP supports.
• A new Proactive Disclosure Coalition, led by the Netherlands with OGP as custodian and OECD as co-developer, was launched at the Summit to develop shared international standards, thereby turning commitments to transparency into concrete, measurable progress.
• The Open Algorithms Network facilitated peer learning on AI governance and algorithmic transparency across countries including Canada, Colombia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Scotland — helping members navigate responsible technology use through shared solutions. As governments worldwide grapple with how to deploy AI responsibly, this network is positioning OGP members at the frontier of innovation that protects rights while enabling growth and ensuring new technologies serve people, not just efficiency.

• Ukraine’s Challenge commitment to monitor reconstruction spending evolved into DREAM, a digital system for managing public investment, now embedded in national legislation. Originally launched by civil society, this system is expected to become a cornerstone of public investment management as Ukraine progresses through EU accession screening in Brussels.
• Cali, Colombia made a Challenge commitment to open up public infrastructure spending. The city has since added new features to its “Infraestructura para Todos” platform, letting residents track public works directly. The work was recognized by CoST, the international infrastructure transparency initiative.

• Costa Rica’s award-winning commitment focuses on opening up the justice system, co-creating a participatory framework that lets citizens and civil society shape how restorative justice services are held accountable. The commitment moves away from one-way reporting and toward meaningful dialogue between the judiciary and the public.
• Metsamor, Armenia committed to bring young people into local governance, establishing a network of youth ambassadors across the community’s rural settlements. The commitment aims to give regional youth a formal voice in municipal decision-making and reduce the out-migration that follows when they feel unheard.
• The Philippines’ commitment focuses on opening up climate finance data, building a citizen-friendly platform that lets the public track climate spending and report issues directly to government agencies. The commitment builds on existing budget-tagging systems that, until now, have been too technical for ordinary citizens to use.
• The United Kingdom committed to shedding light on public contracting data, building dashboards that let the public see how government contracts are awarded and spent. The commitment continues earlier UK efforts to improve the quality and openness of its procurement data.

• Spain‘s Congress of Deputies published its first-ever Open Parliament action plan (2025-27) in 2025, comprising 31 commitments aimed at improving transparency, promoting citizen participation, ensuring integrity and accountability, and promoting training and awareness in parliamentary processes.
• Morocco‘s Parliament adopted its third Open Parliament action plan this year, while North Macedonia — a pioneer of the Open State approach in Europe — included its third Open Parliament and second Open Justice action plans within its latest national plan (2024-26), and placed OGP on the formal Cabinet agenda for the first time.
• Morocco also stands out for the scale of its national-to-local ambition: through the REMACTO network, more than 200 local governments have co-created over 1,000 open government commitments with civil society, making it one of the most extensive local open government efforts globally.

We are seeing this across the Partnership: Guatemala established a multi-stakeholder forum in March 2025, bringing together civil society, academia, indigenous peoples, and the private sector — representing the most inclusive governance structure yet in the country. In Armenia, over a decade of OGP-supported collaboration has built a lasting culture of co-creation. This culminated in late 2024 when Prime Minister Pashinyan established a Participatory Governance Department within the Prime Minister’s office, overseeing OGP, citizen engagement, civic space, whistleblowing, and anti-corruption, and hence, embedding open government at the center of policymaking. In 2025, North Macedonia placed OGP on the formal Cabinet agenda for the first time, with the Prime Minister publicly signaling that openness is a whole-of-government priority linked to the country’s EU accession trajectory.

Demand for open government is diversifying, not receding.

The Partnership welcomed new members, deepened engagement across Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, and reached an all-time high in OGP Local membership in the last two years. The door continues to remain open to any government willing to commit to transparency, participation, and accountability. As noted above, countries are continuing to show their commitment for open government, as evidenced in the endorsement of the Vitoria-Gasteiz Declaration on open government by more than 160 signatories.

Members and partners see the value firsthand.

In a 2025 survey of more than 150 OGP stakeholders from across government and civil society, most said they feel more positive about political support for the open government agenda in their country, a striking result in a year of democratic strain. Additionally:

• Nearly 90% of civil society respondents said their priorities are reflected in their country’s OGP initiatives to some or a large extent, evidence that co-creation produces action plans which are owned by the communities they serve.
• When asked what OGP offers above all, most pointed to its connection to global standards and best practices: the frameworks and peer networks that serve as anchors for domestic reformers when local conditions are difficult.

OGP is helping to sustain domestic civil society.

With declining global development assistance, the funding squeeze is being felt most acutely by the domestic coalitions that drive reform on the ground, co-create action plans, and hold governments to account between electoral cycles.

In response, the Helen Darbishire Fund for Civil Society, named in honour of the late human rights and access to information champion, delivered its first round of grants, totaling $250,000 to organizations and coalitions in 11 OGP countries.

• In Benin, one of OGP’s newest members, the Fund is helping civil society empower young citizens through community data gathering and policy dialogues ahead of the country’s first ever action plan.
• In Brazil, it is helping Transparency International prepare for the 2026 government transition by advancing judicial transparency and developing a national Open Government Strategy.
• In Uruguay, it is building the evidence base for open government’s long-term value by researching which past OGP commitments became lasting public policies.
• And in the UK, it is supporting civil society coordination ahead of the next action plan co-creation.