Let’s Get Co-Creating: Participate in the 2018 Action Plan Process!

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2018 will mark a critical year for 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), with many exciting initiatives being launched. OGP will ‘spin-off’ into an independent organization, the OGP Multi-Donor Trust FundWith the support of development partners and working together with the World Bank, OGP established the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) to support World Bank client countries and local entities that part... will be launched, the OGP Local program (formerly known as Subnational Pilot) will expand, and Tbilisi, Georgia will host the 5th Global OGP Summit in July.

However, what sits at the core of OGP is the 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... (AP) 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... between governments and civil society. These APs are the vehicles that help secure concrete commitments from governments to promote 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, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governments at all levels. By the end of 2018, the Support UnitThe OGP Support Unit is a small, permanent group of staff that work closely with the Steering Committee and the Independent Reporting Mechanism to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership.... will have received 76 new Action Plans, the biggest cohort of new APs since OGP was founded in 2011. The hundreds of new commitments, which are due by August 31, 2018, will be a testimony of the strength of the open government movement across the world.

The OGP Support Unit stands ready to provide support to civil society and governments across the Partnership to ensure that commitments enshrined in APs are highly ambitious and tackle major challenges faced by society, such as grand corruption, inefficient or ineffective delivery of public services, shrinking civic space, and many others. The Support Unit will continue to foster peer learning and exchange within the OGP community, and encourage all stakeholders both inside and outside government to become involved in the development of ambitious, innovative reforms for their governments.

These are some guiding points and materials for all participants to review as they develop their 2018 APs. The OGP Support Unit will send additional materials to all government Points of Contact (POCs) in the coming weeks.

• The new OGP Participation and Co-Creation Standards were published in 2017 with the aim to improve how governments and civil society engage in the OGP co-creation process. Beginning in 2018, countries and OGP Local participants co-creating an AP will be assessed against these standards. The IRM is currently developing guidance on how they will assess the OGP process per the new guidelines. The guidance will be later posted in the OGP website and included in the forthcoming updated version of the POC Manual.
• An updated calendar for even and odd year countries reflecting changes approved by the Steering Committee in 2017 is now available. The due date for APs has changed to August 31st, self-assessment reports are due on November 30, and IRM reports will be sent by April. You may access the calendar, and a guidance note with additional details here.
• A new rule approved by the OGP Steering CommitteeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru... in 2017 states that governments should collect, publish and document an online repositoryAccess to relevant information is essential for enabling participation and ensuring accountability throughout the OGP process. An OGP repository is an online centralized website, webpage, platform or ... on the national OGP website/webpage beginning in 2018. In line with IRM guidance, failure to do so will result in a government acting contrary to process. The Support Unit will publish guidance on how to comply with this new requisite, together with resources that support compliance.
• While the Steering Committee did not impose a hard cap on the number of commitments that a country can include in its AP, it strongly recommends that the number of commitments be capped to 20 with a suggested maximum of 5 milestones per 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..., with the aim of incentivizing more ambitious commitments in APs.

Please note that not all of these guidelines may apply to the OGP Local participants, who will receive further guidance to engage in the OGP process. To learn more about the program, visit  the OGP Local webpage.

Here are some ideas to get started and all the contact information you need:

• If you work in government and have relevant policy ideas about openness , you should get in touch with your national OGP coordinator to talk about how to include a commitment in the new plan. The Support Unit can connect you to the coordinator if needed.
• This is a major advocacy opportunity for civil society activists working on open government! You should make sure you are in touch with the government OGP coordinator in your country, and know the key dates and deadlines for action plan development.
• NGOs and multilateral partners: you should use the list of countries and OGP Local participants below to identify how your advocacy priorities can be delivered in OGP countries, and to ensure that your partners are leveraging the AP process to make progress on your goals.
• Foundations and funders working on open government: you should ensure that your grantees and partners are aware of the opportunity these action plans offer for their work.

The OGP participants with action plans due by August 31, 2018, are:

1. Albania
2. Armenia
3. Austin (Local)
4. Australia
5. Bojonegoro Regency (Local)
6. Bosnia and Herzegovina
7. Brazil
8. Buenos Aires (Local)
9. Bulgaria
10. Cabo Verde
11. Canada
12. Chile
13. Cote d’Ivoire
14. Croatia
15. Czech Republic
16. Dominican Republic
17. El Salvador
18. Elgeyo-Marakwet County (Local)
19. Estonia
20. France
21. Georgia
22. Greece
23. Guatemala
24. Honduras
25. Indonesia
26. Ireland
27. Italy
28. Jalisco (Local)
29. Jamaica
30. Jordan
31. Kenya
32. Kigoma (Local)
33. Kyrgyzstan
34. La Libertad (Local)
35. Lithuania
36. Luxembourg
37. Macedonia
38. Madrid (Local)
39. Malawi
40. Malta
41. Mexico
42. Moldova
43. Mongolia
44. Montenegro
45. Netherlands
46. New Zealand
47. Norway
48. Ontario (Local)
49. Pakistan
50. Papua New Guinea
51. Paraguay
52. Paris (Local)
53. Portugal
54. Romania
55. São Paulo (Local)
56. Scotland (Local)
57. Sekondi-Takoradi (Local)
58. Seoul (Local)
59. Serbia
60. Sierra Leone
61. South Africa
62. South Korea
63. Sri Lanka
64. Sweden
65. Tbilisi (Local)
66. Trinidad and Tobago
67. Tunisia
68. Ukraine
69. United Kingdom
70. United States
71. Uruguay
72. New OGP Local member*
73. New OGP Local member*
74. New OGP Local member*
75. New OGP Local member*
76. New OGP Local member*

*= As part of the OGP Local program expansion plan, the Support Unit will recruit five new local governments to join the program in 2018. For more information and to access the call for expressions of interest, please visit the OGP Local webpage.