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Articles of Governance

Page Updated June 2022

The Articles of Governance were adopted by consensus by OGP’s Steering Committee in April 2012 and revised in March 2014 and April 2015. These Articles establish the mandate and policies of the Open Government Partnership, including the Steering Committee, the Support Unit, and the Independent Reporting Mechanism.

In 2018, under the direction of the Criteria and Standards Subcommittee, OGP undertook a review of the Articles of Governance in order to strengthen their language, align to current practices, and reflect all decisions made by the OGP Steering Committee since they were last reviewed in 2015. The scope of this review did not include substantive changes to policies, processes, or procedures of OGP. In addition, some addenda items such as the IRM Charter and the Rapid Response Mechanism underwent individual reviews in 2019 and therefore were not part of the 2018 review process. The revised Articles underwent a one-month public comment period, and were approved by the Steering Committee. The current version of the Articles of Governance, which are in effect as of 17 June 2019, may be accessed here.

A list of decisions taken by the Steering Committee and the Board of Directors, that are not yet reflected in the current version of the Articles, can be found below:

Topic Section Current Text Changes not yet reflected in the Articles Of Governance
OGP Commitments: Length of Action Plans Addendum B “All OGP participating governments are to develop OGP action plans that elaborate concrete commitments over a two-year period.” OGP participating governments can now decide to develop a two-year or a four-year action plan; countries that select the four-year option will have to schedule a mandatory refresh period at the two-year mark. This change is reflected in the updated Participation and Co-Creation Standards, approved by the Steering Committee on November 24, 2021.
Participation and Co-Creation Standards Addendum C Please see the Articles of Governance pages 21 – 28 for the previous Participation and Co-Creation Standards. The Steering Committee approved the final version of the new Participation and Co-Creation Standards on November 24, 2021.
OGP Disclosure Policy Addendum D Financial Support: “The annual OGP budget—as approved by the OGP GL subcommittee and larger SC” “The Board of Directors shall approve an annual operating budget for the Corporation, which shall be developed in close consultation with the OGP Steering Committee” as confirmed in the Bylaws of the Open Government Partnership Secretariat, adopted as of January 17, 2019.
Steering Committee Subcommittees: Governance and Leadership (GL) III. B. 2. d. “The GL’s functions include but are not limited to: 

  1. Working closely with the CEO to ensure that the SU has sufficient resources, and to present an annual budget to the SC for review;”
IRM Charter Addendum F Please see the Articles of Governance pages 45 – 53 for the IRM Charter language. The updated IRM Charter [known as the “IRM Refresh”] was approved by the Steering Committee on February 25, 2020
Rapid Response Mechanism Addendum G Please see pages 54 – 57 for the full text of the Rapid Response Mechanism in the Articles of Governance. The Rapid Response Mechanism was replaced by the Rapid Response Protocol as approved by the OGP Steering Committee on September 29, 2020.
II. B. 6. Please see page 5 for the full text of the Rapid Response Mechanism in the Articles of Governance.
Governance Structure III. A – C There is no language clarifying the role of the Open Government Partnership Secretariat Board of Directors separately from the Steering Committee and CEO in section III. In section VI. A, the following is noted:

  • “The OGP Secretariat Board of Directors provides fiduciary and legal oversight over the SU and the IRM.”
 The OGP Secretariat Board of Directors operates under Bylaws of the OGP Secretariat adopted on January 17, 2019.
Non-Universally Recognized States N/A There is no language in the Articles of Governance regarding OGP’s policy on the participation of non-universally recognized states in the Partnership. Non-universally recognized states are currently not eligible to become members of OGP. For purposes of membership, “non-universally recognized states” refers to countries who are not members of the United Nations. See here for more information.
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