Action plan – Mendoza, Argentina, 2021 – 2023

At-a-Glance

Duration

July 2023

Date Submitted

19th August 2021

Foreword(s)

The Open Government management model implemented by the Municipality of the City of Mendoza arose as a result of the enormous international momentum generated by the creation 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) in 2011. Thus, the City of Mendoza submitted its application together with 5 civil society organizations such as the National University of Cuyo, the University of Mendoza, the University Juan A. Ma. Mendoza, the Universidad Juan A. Maza, the Centro Latinoamericano de Derechos Humanos and the Fundación Nuestra Mendoza, being selected for its high standards of municipal openness. It is thus committed to adopting the values and principles described in the Open Government DeclarationThe Open Government Declaration is the declaration of commitment to upholding the principles of open and transparent government, approved by the founding countries of OGP in 2011. Countries are requir....

The Open Government Partnership brings together governments, citizens, civil society organizations, academia and the private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat... More to promote transparent, responsible, inclusive and accountable governance. It is increasingly evident that collaboration, 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 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 are the fundamental pillars that promote modern, accountable and agile governments.

In turn, by joining OGP, as a member we make commitments, as part of an Action Plan, that must be ambitious and go beyond a government’s current practice, and to evaluate and report on its performance in meeting these commitments. The Action Plan of the City of Mendoza (PAGAM) will be a roadmap that will outline the path to travel together for the co-design of public policies between civil society organizations, the private sector, citizens interested in the subject and the municipal government in order to consolidate the Open Government ecosystem, based on a transparent, participatory, inclusive and accountable governance.

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Vision

This subsection details the Open Government Strategic Vision in your local area that should guide the commitments for the action plan period.

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

The City of Mendoza has the long-term vision of becoming a model of local government with a triple impact that integrates economic development, social inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More and environmental conservation. In this sense, these three pillars are crossed by the tools of Open Government, which contribute to the sole objective of improving the quality of life of neighbors and visitors to the city.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

1. Regulatory update: Ordinance No. 3986/19 (extension of Ord.No. 3955/18) of “Adhesión Ley de Acceso a la Información Pública” of 2018. Decree Nº 36/2020 of “Update of the Open DataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... Portal of the City of Mendoza”. Decree No. 305/2020 of the “Municipal Transparency Plan”. Ordinance No. 4011/2020 of “Transparency and Integrity in Municipal Contracting”.
2. Transparency: New Open Data Portal, New Open Government Portal, Requests for Access to Public Information.
3. Open Data: Stories with Data, Federal Challenge of Visualizations, Public Cartographic Visualizer.
4. Citizen Participation: “New Citizen Participation Portal”, “3 Citizen Participation Tables”, “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 Ideathon for Climate Change”, “Meeting Tables for the Open Government of the City of Mendoza”, Federal Ideathon “Innovative Cities in times of Covid-19”, “Open Council 2020”.
5. Collaboration: Newsletter “Open Ecosystems”, Climate Change Laboratory of the City of Mendoza, “Mesa Federal de Ciudades OGP” with the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Rosario and the City of Córdoba.
6. Public Ethics: Sworn Statements of Assets, Municipal Registry of Administrative Sanctions, Assistance and coordination for compliance with the obligations of Law No. 9281 (“Ficha Limpia”).
7. Training and events: Internal trainings related to “Main aspects of Open Government”, Federal trainings with Public Ethics Office.

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle?

The greatest challenge that the City proposes to face in terms of Open Government lies in encouraging citizens to become involved and committed to government actions, both when proposing ideas and monitoring the implementation of public policies. This challenge is also a great area of opportunity, because it allows the administration to legitimize its actions and to advance in consensual solutions to the real needs of the community.

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

The medium-term objectives that the municipality wants to achieve have to do with using open government mechanisms to make management more efficient and austere, based on real data that would allow more participatory, reasonable and effective decisions, and extrapolate this experience to numerous areas of daily municipal work, with graphs and heat maps of the main areas of incidence in areas as complex and dissimilar as health, environment, urban infrastructure, security, economic development, urban mobility and connectivity, to name a few.

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

This Action Plan contributes to achieve the strategic vision of Open Government through the involvement of CSOs to work collaboratively with the municipality and be agents of change, contemplating that they multiply contact networks, retain information, empower and engage citizens; strengthening local actions for the consolidation of a more open, inclusive and transparent administration, as well as integrating and involving citizens in the exercise of active citizenship, since local issues usually have greater receptivity and sensitivity among citizens due to the proximity of the municipal government; the promotion of a collaborative approach to municipal issues, linking CSO leaders, university specialists and private sector entrepreneurs to co-prototype, test and co-design joint solutions to local problems with a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach; the consolidation of progress in the Sustainable Development GoalsOGP countries are experimenting with open government innovations to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16+ which includes peaceful, just and inclusive societies... (SDGs), mainly in relation to SDG 17, multiplying the impact on the other SDGs based on the contribution of CSOs.

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

Transparency, participation, collaboration, innovation and accountability are fundamental pillars to face the triple impact management of the City of Mendoza, where they interact synergistically improving the quality of life of all its neighbors. Within this framework, the Action Plan presented to the Open Government Partnership will allow to continue co-designing fair, sustainable and inclusive policies with immediate results, improving, in turn, the experience of neighbors and the quality of municipal services, as well as encouraging a more active and engaged citizenship.

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

• Dirección de Gobierno Abierto y Participación Ciudadana, Municipalidad de la Ciudad de Mendoza

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

The municipality is committed from all areas of the Executive Department and the Honorable Deliberating Council, coordinated by the Directorate of Open Government and Citizen Participation, to adopt and implement the values of Open Government to perform its public function and thus guide the entire administration in this way.

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

The process of co-creation of the City Action Plan was composed of different participation mechanisms, starting with the Participa Mendoza Portal where citizens could learn about the government’s proposal and suggest new ideas and projects, through a Form that is available from Friday, June 4, forming a Permanent Open Channel for the neighbors of the city. Continuing with these actions, on Fridays June 11, 18 and 25, the Municipality convened via Zoom 3 Citizen Participation Roundtables on Economic Development and Transparency; Environmental Care and Climate Change Laboratory; and on Social Inclusion, GenderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... More and Citizen Security, respectively. And in the same sense, the opening process continued with a Citizen Consultation, thought as a space of approach and support to the Action Plan, where neighbors of the City will be able to know this preliminary version, give their agreement and make comments on them that will be received by the municipal authorities.

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

The City of Mendoza understands that participation must be useful, not merely symbolic, and recognizes that minorities are often underrepresented and that their concerns may not be adequately addressed, and that it is therefore necessary to have mechanisms to ensure that the diversity of society in terms of minority groups is reflected in public institutions. For this reason, different interest groups linked to the themes of the commitments were convened so that, at dialogue tables, they could contribute their vision and specific needs, as well as agree on the commitments to be assumed by the city in each case. In turn, the CSOs acted as a conduit network for the demands of the different sectors of the community with which they work on a day-to-day basis, channeling those interests and finally being included in the final product.

Who participated in these spaces?

The process of co-creation of the Action Plan has involved prestigious CSOs of the City of Mendoza, such as the Latin American Center for Human RightsAn essential part of open government includes protecting the sacred freedoms and rights of all citizens, including the most vulnerable groups, and holding those who violate human rights accountable. T..., Fundación Nuestra Mendoza, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Universidad Juan Agustín Maza and Universidad de Mendoza – Transparency and Integrity Laboratory. Likewise, it will be the same institutions that will guarantee that the implementation of the commitments is carried out as planned. In the same sense, the annual budget will foresee all the Open Government policies that the municipality plans to carry out, having particular importance the commitments derived from the Local OGP Program and the Goals Plan with the citizenship.

How many groups participated in these spaces?

6

How many public-facing meetings were held in 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...?

6

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

From this process that began with the elaboration of the Plan itself, they will contribute so that Citizen Participation in the entire Public Policy Cycle is not a mere expression but, on the contrary, a real possibility to empower actors and to add diverse voices to the discussion and definition regarding what kind of city is the one imagined and desired by those who live there, what their priorities are and what is considered the best way to advance in the desired changes. The challenge from now on is to ensure that the implementation of this Action Plan is a real opportunity to change historical power relations, achieving greater equity and enabling citizens, as a whole, to feel that they are part of the definition and development of the City of Mendoza.

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

The monitoring of the OGP action plan will be the responsibility of the aforementioned CSOs, as independent entities. In this sense, the OGP Cities Federal Roundtable, formed by the four Argentinean municipalities members of the Local Program, namely the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Rosario, Córdoba and Mendoza, agreed to unify evaluation and monitoring criteria, so that each city’s civil society can rely on the support of the others throughout the process. For their part, these institutions, well known in the Province of Mendoza, leaders in transparency and citizen participation, and who watch over good governance, citizen responsibility and healthy coexistence on a daily basis in their usual activities, will ensure, through the control of the official web information available, permanent consultation with citizens, and meetings between neighbors and government, that the commitments are being fulfilled as agreed, and that the information produced in the process is consistent, true and published.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Facundo Heras, Director Ejecutivo, Fundación Nuestra Mendoza, fheras@nuestramendoza.org.ar

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

Regarding the monitoring of the progress of the commitments assumed by the City of Mendoza, the Action Plan will first be presented to society, in order to make it known to as many neighbors as possible. Then, its approval by the Honorable Deliberating Council will be proposed, in addition to its diffusion, by means of an official press conference. Once implemented, with respect to permanent internal control, internal meetings will be held with the different municipal areas responsible for each particular 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..., in order to follow up on it.

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

In turn, externally and periodically, the progress of the commitments will be published online on the official website “Participa Mendoza” every 4 months, ensuring regular monitoring, and once a year, it is proposed to hold an annual workshop and bimonthly meetings of the Municipality with the NGOs involved.

In addition, the “Commitments” section of the official website of the Municipality of the City of Mendoza will be used as a tool to follow up on the commitments. In addition to the forms suggested by OGP and/or the federal form that Polilab (UNR) will prepare and make available to local CSOs within the framework of the aforementioned agreement between the Argentine cities that are part of OGP Local.

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

Publishing a report with the results of the forms, in the website “participa Mendoza”, specially designed for the process of co-creation, implementation and progress of the Mendoza City Action Plan.

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Facundo Heras, Director Ejecutivo, Fundación Nuestra Mendoza
• Fabiana Cantú, Directora Ejecutiva, Centro Latinoamericano de Derechos Humanos
• Fernanda Bernabé, Secretaría Económica y de Servicio, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo
• Cristina Párraga, Directora de Extensión y Relaciones Institucionales, Universidad de Mendoza
• Mónica Torrecilla, Vicerrectora de Investigación, Extensión y Vinculación, Universidad Juan Agustín Maza

Carta Intendente PAGA MZA
Plan de Accion de Gobierno Abierto de la Ciudad de Mendoza
Co-creation process