Seychelles Results Report 2023-2025

Seychelles’ second 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... advanced 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 and stakeholder engagement in fisheries governance. It also led to the establishment of the National Integrity Coalition, which brings together independent institutions to strengthen good governance. Seychelles’ OGP 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... strategically prioritized promising commitments while deprioritizing those with weaker open government 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... or limited funding.

Implementation

Seychelles’ second action plan delivered significant early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde... More for Commitments 1 and 2, both of which were identified as promising in the Action Plan Review. 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... 1 expanded public access to information and data on the fisheries sector to inform policymaking and public debate. It also strengthened stakeholder collaboration and helped Seychelles become the first country to achieve compliant status in the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI).

Commitment 2 established the National Integrity Coalition (NIC), a committee for inter-governmental collaboration to align Seychelles’ institutions and laws with the constitution. Notably, this reform also brought eight independent government institutions into the OGP process,^[1] although there remains an opportunity to further harness the NIC to advance open government.

Seychelles’ OGP National Multi-Stakeholder Committee (NMSC) chose to prioritize implementation of Commitments 1 and 2 because of their potential to deliver open government results. As a result, these commitments achieved the greatest progress.^[2] The NMSC deprioritized Commitments 3, 4 and 5 due to their limited potential to deliver early results. Commitment 4 was subsumed under Commitment 2, as the NIC undertook the public service system as part of their initial work.

Participation and Co-Creation

OGP is administered through the Office of the Vice President and the NMSC.^[3] Following the 2025 elections, Vice President Pillay assumed the OGP chair position. While the Secretariat and NMSC remained unchanged, the OGP Point of Contact was promoted to Secretary of State for Cabinet Affairs and Civil Service in December 2025.^[4] NMSC members welcomed this development as an opportunity to sustain high-level advocacy for open government reforms.^[5]

Cooperation between government and CSOs increased alongside nationwide awareness of OGP,^[6] driven by media coverage on national broadcasts.^[7] In March 2024, the NMSC expanded with two new members.^[8] CSOs also noted that engagement extended beyond formal co-creation and implementation processes,^[9] with invitations to participate in high-level meetings from which they had previously been excluded.^[10]

Government and non-governmental stakeholders agreed that these platforms created an overall inclusive environment for decision-making, although some expressed uncertainty about the long-term sustainability of these mechanisms.^[11] While the overall quality of co-creation improved during action plan co-creation and implementation, the minimum requirement under the OGP Participation and Co-Creation Standards for the NMSC to meet at least every six months during implementation was not met. Finally, commitment implementers and the NMSC emphasized that budgetary constraints posed a general challenge throughout the NAP cycle.^[12]

Implementation in Context

Seychelles’ 2025 presidential election temporarily interrupted action plan implementation. The campaign period, first round, run-off, and transition to the new administration drew attention and resources for much of 2025.^[13] Several CSOs stepped up by advocating for continued OGP engagement and orienting members of the new administration to the OGP process.^[14]

Reformers working on the National Integrity Coalition and FiTI process cited limited financial and human resources as implementation constraints. However, they noted that support from the European Commission may support these reforms moving forward.^[15]