Co-Chair Global Call-to-Action for All OGP Members

In support of Open Renewal, the Co-ChairsThe leadership of the Steering Committee is made up of four co-chairs who provide strategic guidance and support to advance OGP’s overarching priorities. Co-Chairs serve two-year terms beginning on ... of OGP, the Republic of Korea and Maria Baron of Directorio Legislativo, have launched a global call-to-action for all OGP members in 2021 to use their new and existing action plans to make ambitious commitments that address core challenges. This includes anti-corruption, civic space and participation, and digital governanceAs evolving technologies present new opportunities for governments and citizens to advance openness and accountability, OGP participating governments are working to create policies that deal with the ... More where they can share their expertise and experience. Read their letter to the community below. 

Dear OGP leaders,

As co-chairs of 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 (OGP), we are greatly pleased to work alongside with you to build a stronger global coalition for open government and democracy throughout this challenging but critical year.

2020 saw a confluence of crises, from the health crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, to a global economic recession, and social inequalities laid bare by the pandemic. Open government has a role to play in tackling each of these issues as an essential tool with the potential to save lives and livelihoods, and to protect democratic institutions and spaces for civil society. We now would like to ask the OGP community to join forces and use open government approaches to ensure an inclusive recovery from the pandemic and build back better.

To this end, we call on every OGP member to co-create ambitious commitments as part of your OGP action plans based on the three co-chair priorities announced at the OGP Leaders Summit in September 2020. Co-creation processes must be inclusive, with space for voices from marginalized communities not often heard at the center of power.

• Civic Space and Public Participation: The fight to strengthen civic freedoms, democratic accountability, access to information, and all the other structures that allow citizens to participate freely in public life, has been hard fought, and in many cases, hard won. However, the global pandemic has been affecting these structures for civic space and public participation. The Republic of Korea is making its utmost effort to empower citizens through transparent disclosure of all information related to COVID-19 with the principles of “openness, transparency and democratic process” and promoting public engagement in policy-making by seeking their proposals and ideas to respond to the pandemic. More

As co-chairs, we would like to encourage OGP member countries to facilitate citizens’ engagement in policy-making, and pursue recovery from COVID-19 and to prosperity through citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More.

• Anti-corruption: In the front lines of the pandemic, as countries mobilize resources to meet urgent needs, every cent counts. Public trust in government can be secured only when the national budget is executed in a transparent and fair manner, and that trust in turn serves as a driving force to quickly bring us back to normal life as it was prior to the pandemic. For this, institutional frameworks must be improved in a way that allows citizens to participate in the budget process and monitor government spending. More

We would like to ask all OGP leaders to lead the way in strengthening public-civil society partnership to ensure public money is spent to improve the lives of citizens.

• Digital Innovation: Since its founding, OGP has looked to emerging technologies to help open up government. We intend to build on the progress made thus far and maximize the potential of digital technologies to further advance democracy. To this end, we would like to promote inclusive digital innovation to bridge the digital divide and embrace disadvantaged communities while continuing opening up high-demand public data. More

In addition, as more COVID-19 vaccines become available across the world, we rely on the OGP community to work together toward ensuring fair, equitable, and efficient distribution of vaccines to reach the people who need them most.

The 2021 OGP Global Summit in Seoul can be the culmination of all these activities. We will invite Heads of States/Government and government, civil society and other leaders across our Partnership to present their commitments in these areas at the 2021 OGP Global Summit in Seoul. As OGP celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2021, we invite you to reflect on the progress and successes of our global Partnership, and renew our 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... to open government values that, a decade on, remain just as vital, relevant, and essential for meeting the most pressing challenges of our time.

Sincerely,

OGP Co-Chairs, 2020-21